The role of self-compassion in the psychological (mal)adjustment of older adults: A repeated- measures study protocol

Abstract

Purpose: Self-compassion is associated with healthy age- ing and may be a protection factor of older adults' mental health in face of negative life events and other factors such as insecure attachment. However, fear of self-compassion may constitute an obstacle to promoting self-compassion. The role of self-compassion on the psychological (mal) adjustment of older adults requires further research with robust designs, and fear of self-compassion has not been studied in this population. We will test the moderator and mediator role, respectively, of self-compassion and fear of self-compassion, and we will analyse the longitudinal devel- opmental trajectories of these variables.Methods: A repeated-measures design with three data col- lection moments across 6 months, using a sample (180–200 participants) of community residents aged ≥65years. Data will be collected using traditional (i.e. pencil-and-paper questionnaires) and online (i.e. Google Forms) methods. Path analyses will be conducted to test moderation and mediation models. Latent growth curve analyses will be conducted to study the within-person change and between- person differences in change over time of self-compassion and fear of self-compassion. Conclusions: We expect that participants with higher self- compassion will show better psychological adjustment, regardless of attachment quality and negative life events.We expect that insecure attachment and more negative life events will increase the participants' fear of self-compassion, which will decrease their psychological adjustment. Additionally, we expect that self-compassion and fear of self-compassion will show stable developmental trajectories during 6 months. Our results will contribute to better un- derstand protection factors of older adults' mental health, which may guide future psychological interventions.