title: Role of self-compassion in psychological well-being among perinatal women.
abstract: Self-compassion is associated with depression and anxiety in general samples. Although recent research indicates that dysfunctional maternal attitudes predict the development of perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms, no research to date has examined the construct of self-compassion and its relationship with psychological well-being in perinatal women. Pregnant and postpartum women (N = 189) completed self-report measures of depression and anxiety history, current depression and anxiety symptom severity, and self-compassion. Women with higher depression and anxiety symptom severity had significantly lower self-compassion. Additionally, women with self-reported prior history of depression or anxiety had significantly lower self-compassion even while controlling for current depression or anxiety symptom severity, respectively. Our results suggest that self-compassion warrants further attention in the study of the development, maintenance, and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Felder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lemon
authors.affiliation: Boulder Women's Care, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shea
authors.affiliation: The Postpartum Wellness Center of Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kripke
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. sona.dimidjian@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Sona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dimidjian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety; D003863:Depression; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Perinatal; Self-compassion