Self-Compassion's Impact on Health

Understanding processes and mechanisms that facilitate wellbeing and prevent mental health problems (such as depression) is of great importance, particularly as mental health problems are highly prevalent in the general population and are associated with negative consequences for an individual's social life and well-being, as well as for society and the economy (Wittchen et al., 2011). Recent research has pointed out that the cultivation of self-compassion may be one of these protective mechanisms (e.g. Galante, Galante, Bekkers, & Gallacher, 2014; Gilbert, 2014; Kuyken et al., 2010; MacBeth & Gumley, 2012; Zessin, Dickhauser, & Garbade, 2015). However, selfcompassion is quite a new construct in psychology research and its cognitive and psychophysiological correlates are not well understood. In particular, the majority of studies on self-compassion have been correlational and there is a deficit in the current literature examining mechanisms underlying self-compassion and their impact on its beneficial effects.