Mediation of Self-Compassion on Pathways from Stress to Psychopathologies among Japanese Workers

Yasuhiro Kotera (), Holly Young, Sarah Maybury and Muhammad Aledeh
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Yasuhiro Kotera: School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2HA, UK
Holly Young: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Sarah Maybury: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Muhammad Aledeh: College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-11

Abstract: As awareness of mental health increases worldwide, how to improve mental health has begun to be discussed in many countries. Stress is known to cause diverse physical and mental health problems, including psychopathologies. On the other hand, our previous studies identified that self-compassion, kindness and understanding towards oneself are key components for good mental health in many populations, including Japanese workers. The government reports that Japanese workers suffer from high rates of mental health problems. However, the mechanism of how self-compassion helps their mental health remains to be evaluated. Accordingly, this study aimed to elucidate how self-compassion intervenes in pathways from stress to psychopathologies, namely depression and anxiety. One hundred and sixty-five Japanese workers completed an online survey regarding self-compassion, depression, anxiety and stress. Correlation and path analyses were conducted. These four variables were significantly inter-related. While self-compassion mediated the pathway from stress to depression, it did not mediate the pathway from stress to anxiety. These exploratory insights assist in understanding the mechanism of how self-compassion improves mental health and inform effective methods to implement self-compassion interventions to the Japanese workforce.

Keywords: self-compassion; stress; psychopathology; mental health; Japanese workers; mediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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