Psychological flexibility and self-compassion buffer the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities

Abstract

Individuals with physical disabilities experience higher rates of depression relative to the general population. Shame is a central mechanism linking disability status to poor mental health outcomes, including depression. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion have been shown to change one’s relationship to negative self-evaluations such as shame. The goal of this study was to determine if psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predict depression and buffer the impact of shame on depression in adults with physical disabilities. Adults with physical disabilities (n = 207) completed self-report measures of psychological flexibility, self-compassion, shame, and depression. Consistent with prediction, a series of multiple regressions indicated that psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predicted depression over and beyond shame, and they both mitigated the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities (all p’s < .05). These results suggest that psychological flexibility and self-compassion enhancing treatments, such as mindfulness-based interventions and acceptance and commitment therapy may be helpful in improving the mental health and wellbeing of adults with physical disabilities.