In plain language
Self-compassion — treating yourself with the same kindness you would offer a friend — is linked to better mental health, but teenagers do not all relate to themselves in the same way, and boys and girls may differ in how compassionate and self-critical they are. This study asked whether distinct “self-compassion profiles” exist for adolescent boys and girls, whether those profiles matter for well-being, and whether nonattachment (the ability to hold thoughts and experiences lightly rather than clinging to them) helps explain why self-compassion supports well-being.
The researchers surveyed 1,944 Australian Year 10 students (average age about 15.7 years, half girls) and used latent profile analysis to group students by how they relate to themselves. Girls fell into four profiles — Low Self-Relating, Moderate Self-Relating, Compassionate, and Uncompassionate — while boys showed only three, with no distinctly Uncompassionate group. For both genders, students in the Compassionate profile (high self-kindness, low self-criticism) reported the highest psychological well-being and the highest nonattachment, while Uncompassionate girls reported the lowest of both.
Crucially, mediation analyses showed that nonattachment partially explained the link between self-compassion profile and well-being: compassionate students were more able to let go of sticky, clinging thoughts, and this letting-go was part of why they felt better. The findings suggest that helping teens build both self-compassion and nonattachment may be a promising route to better adolescent mental health.
Key findings
- In a sample of 1,944 Australian Year 10 students (mean age 15.65 years; 50% girls), latent profile analysis revealed distinct gender-based self-compassion profiles.
- Four profiles emerged for girls (Low Self-Relating, Moderate Self-Relating, Compassionate, and Uncompassionate), but only three for boys — no Uncompassionate profile emerged for boys.
- For both genders, the Compassionate profile (high compassionate, low uncompassionate self-relating) was associated with the highest psychological well-being and nonattachment; the Uncompassionate profile showed the lowest of both.
- Low and Moderate Self-Relating profiles did not differ from each other in psychological well-being or nonattachment.
- Nonattachment partially mediated the relationship between self-compassion profile membership and psychological well-being for both boys and girls.
- For girls, the well-being difference between the Low Self-Relating and Compassionate profiles was fully mediated by nonattachment (indirect effect b = 0.23, 95% CI [0.164, 0.311]; direct effect non-significant).
How to cite
APA
Li, W., Beath, A., Ciarrochi, J., & Fraser, M. (2024). Gender based adolescent self-compassion profiles and the mediating role of nonattachment on psychological well-being. Current Psychology, 43, 9176–9190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05049-3
BibTeX
@article{li2024gender,
author = {Li, William and Beath, Alissa and Ciarrochi, Joseph and Fraser, Madeleine},
title = {Gender based adolescent self-compassion profiles and the mediating role of nonattachment on psychological well-being},
journal = {Current Psychology},
year = {2024},
volume = {43},
pages = {9176--9190},
doi = {10.1007/s12144-023-05049-3}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
- Process-Based Therapy & Idionomic Analysis
- Nonattachment research & practices (non-attachment.com)
Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.