Relation of the Psychological Constructs of Resilience, Mindfulness, and Self-Compassion on the Perception of Physical and Mental Health

Abstract

Purpose

Health factors that enhance an individual’s ability to perceive and maintain health and well-being are referred to as “health assets”. Of these assets, resilience, mindfulness and self-compassion are considered to be of special importance. The objective of this study was to analyze the association between these psychological constructs on the perception of physical and mental health in a general population.

Patients and methods

A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted with 845 participating subjects. The outcome variable was the individual´s perception of physical and mental health, measured using the SF-36 questionnaire. The independent variables were: sociodemographic variables, medical information, physical activity performance (using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire), tobacco and alcohol consumption, anxiety and/or depression (using the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale), resilience (using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), mindfulness (with the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form) and self-compassion (using the Self-compassion scale-short form). A correlation analysis, simple linear regression and multiple linear regression were carried out, controlling for the influence of the distinct independent variables.

Results

The constructs of resilience, mindfulness and self-compassion are significant, in the perception of both physical and mental health. Other factors appearing in the multiple regression are gender, age, educational level, physical activity and tobacco consumption, in a positive or negative sense.

Conclusion

The study of these associations is fundamental for the understanding of underlying regulation processes of healthy lifestyles in the general population.

Keywords:

• perception of physical and mental health
• resilience
• mindfulness
• self-compassion

Abbreviations

IPAQ, International Physical Activity Questionnaire; CD-RISC, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; FFMQ-SF, Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire short form; SCS-SF, Self-compassion scale-short form.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The study was approved by the Ethical Research Committee of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2012-025), and by the Ethical Research Committee of Aragón, Spain (15/2017). The study was performed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. All of the subjects completed an informed consent form, and their data were anonymized.

Availability of Data and Material

Data supporting the findings presented in the current study will be available from the corresponding author upon request.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.