Study of the relationship between self-compassion and depressive symptoms in the elderly

Abstract

Self-compassion has been conceptualized by Neff (2011) as an emotional regulation strategy that may be protective of depressive symptoms, since it leads to a decrease in feelings of separation and detachment, providing connection and complicity with others. However, there are very few studies in the literature on the association between self-compassion and depressive symptomatology in the elderly, a gap that this study aims to fill. The sample was composed of 427 individuals from the general population, aged between 60 and 94 years. Self-response instruments were used, specifically brief versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15) and the Self Compassion Scale (SELFCS). The results obtained showed the existence of an inverse relationship between depressive symptomatology and self-compassion and confirm obtained data by other authors who refer to the protective effect of self-compassion in the elderly (Ahmadpanah et al., 2017; Tavares et al., 2020).  Interventions based on self-compassion may contribute to decrease depressive symptomatology in the elderly, as already pointed out by some studies (Bijaeyeh et al., 2021; Elhgry et al., 2020; Moraes et al., 2020; Perez-Blasco et al., 2016). Future investigations should include clinical samples of depressed elderly people.