The Influence of Self-Compassion on Cognitive Appraisals and Coping with Stressful Events

We investigated the influence of self-compassion on stress coping processes using a short longitudinal design. Specifically, we hypothesized that the association between self-compassion and stress coping would be mediated by cognitive appraisals (perceived threat and controllability) of stressful events. At Time 1, Japanese undergraduates (N = 217; 126 women, 90 men, and 1 unknown; mean age 18.57 years, SD = 0.96) completed the Japanese version of the Self-Compassion Scale. One month later (Time 2), they recalled a stressful event that had happened in the past month and completed measures of cognitive appraisals of the event and coping strategies that they had employed. Structural equation modeling showed that self-compassion at Time 1 was negatively related to avoidance-oriented coping at Time 2. Moreover, self-compassion promoted adaptive coping via reduced threat toward and greater controllability of the stressful event. The current study provides additional evidence that cognitive appraisals (threat and controllability) could mediate the influence of self-compassion in stress coping processes.