The relationship between self-compassion and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese college students: the chain mediating roles of psychological resilience and well-being
AI Summary
Self-compassion, its components, psychological resilience and well-being are positively intercorrelated and each negatively associated with non-suicidal self-injury.
Well-being mediates the self-compassion to NSSI link; psychological resilience and well-being form a sequential chain mediating that relationship.
Mindfulness is the key self-compassion component with the largest indirect effect; components differ in mediation pathways, common humanity also acts via well-being.
Front Psychol. 2026 May 12;17:1820990. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1820990. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the chain mediating roles of psychological resilience and well-being between self-compassion and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among Chinese college students from the perspective of positive psychology.
METHODS: A total of 1,083 college students were recruited from three universities in Zhenjiang, Nanchang, and Fuzhou, China. Participants voluntarily completed the Self-Compassion Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Index of Well-Being Scale, and Adolescents Self-Harm Scale.
RESULTS: The results showed that: (1) Self-compassion and its components, psychological resilience, and well-being and its dimensions were all significantly positively correlated with each other, and all were significantly negatively correlated with NSSI. (2) Well-being mediated the relationship between self-compassion and NSSI, while psychological resilience and well-being sequentially mediated the association between self-compassion and NSSI. (3) The indirect association pathways between the components of self-compassion and NSSI might differ: the negative association between common humanity and NSSI could be manifested through the independent mediating role of well-being as well as the chain mediating roles of psychological resilience and well-being; whereas self-kindness and mindfulness were negatively associated with NSSI only through the chain mediating roles of psychological resilience and well-being. (4) The indirect effect of mindfulness on NSSI was significantly greater than that of the other components of self-compassion.
CONCLUSION: Psychological resilience and well-being are important mediating variables in the relationship between self-compassion and NSSI among college students. Specifically, mindfulness may serve as a key component enabling self-compassion to exert its protective effects, and well-being may play a more crucial mediating role between self-compassion and NSSI.
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