Effect of Self-compassion Training on Self-esteem and Risky Behaviors of Adolescents

Self-compassion is a psychological concept that refers to the ability to understand the pain, suffering, and emotions of others and to show empathy and support them. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the impact of self-compassion training on self-esteem and risky behaviors of adolescents.

This experimental research had two experimental and control groups that were examined before and after the intervention.  The population of this research consisted of all high school adolescents in Minoodasht, Iran, in 2022-2023, who were randomly selected. The sample size for this study was consisted of 50 individuals (25 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group). The tools used in this study included three questionnaires: a demographic information questionnaire, Cooper Smith Self-esteem Inventory, and a risky behaviors questionnaire. Three months after the intervention, a post-test was administered to both groups. The collected data was entered into the SPSS statistical software (version 22) and was analyzed using independent samples t-test, Chi-square test, and ANCOVA.

The findings indicated that the mean age of individuals in the control and experimental groups was 14.04 ± 0.84. The independent t-test before the intervention showed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in some dimensions, such as tendency to dangerous driving and relationship with the opposite sex (P>0.05). After the intervention, the independent t-test showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all areas of the Iranian adolescent risk-inventory Scale (IARS) as well as the IARS total score (P<0.05). The independent t-test before the intervention showed no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory (SEI) scales and also the SEI total score (P>0.05), while the independent t-test after the intervention showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all scales of SEI as well as the SEI total score (P<0.05).

The obtained results indicated that self-compassion training might lead to increased self-esteem and reduced risky behaviors among adolescents. It is suggested to utilize the intervention method used in this article in the process of reducing risky behaviors among adolescents.