Translation and validation of the Swedish version of the Self-Compassion Scale for Youth

Figures & data

Figure 1. Graphical comparison of the two CFA.

CFA: Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Circles represent latent factors; squares represent scale items.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the total scale and subscales for total sample, boys and girls in the self-compassion scale for youth in Swedish.

	Total sample N = 316		Boys N = 103		Girls N = 213		T-test
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	T	p	ES d
Total scale	3.01	0.69	3.19	.67	2.92	.68	−3.32	.001**	−.40
Self-compassion total scale	3.01	0.69	3.19	0.67	2.92	0.68	−1.43	0.15	−.17
Self-Kindness	2.93	0.94	3.03	0.93	2.87	0.95	−3.87	.001***	−46
Self-Judgement (reversed)	3.11	1.03	3.43	1.08	2.96	0.97	0.47	.640	.05
Common Humanity	2.63	1.01	2.60	1.05	2.65	1.00	−3.73	.001***	−.45
Isolation (reversed)	3.39	0.96	3.67	1.03	3.25	0.90	−1.52	.065	−.18
Mindfulness	3.01	0.87	3.12	0.89	2.96	0.86	−4.77	.001***	−.57
Over-identified (reversed)	2.97	1.03	3.35	1.08	2.78	0.96	−3.32	.001**	−.40

M = mean, SD = standard deviation. Cohens d uses the pooled standard deviation. ES = Effect size d ≥ .2 for a small effect, ≥ .5 for a medium effect, ≥ .8 for a large effect.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the items for total sample, boys and girls in the self-compassion scale for youth in Swedish.

	Total sample N = 316				Boys N = 103				Girls N = 213
Items	M	SD	rit ^c	α-i	M	SD	rit ^c	α-i	M	SD	rit ^c	α-i
1. I try to be kind and supportive to myself when I’m having a hard time.	3.06	1.23	0.58	0.87	3.31	1.20	0.52	0.85	2.94	1.22	0.59	0.88
2. When I feel sad or down, it seems like I’m the only one who feels that way.	3.47	1.14	0.53	0.88	3.86	1.12	0.60	0.85	3.29	1.11	0.46	0.89
3. When I notice things about myself that I don’t like, I get really frustrated.	3.25	1.22	0.63	0.87	3.72	1.16	0.57	0.85	3.03	1.18	0.63	0.88
4. When I feel I’m not “good enough” in some way, I try to remind myself that other people sometimes feel this way too.	2.53	1.09	0.47	0.88	2.52	1.13	0.41	0.85	2.53	1.07	0.51	0.88
5. When I feel frustrated or disappointed, I think about it over and over again.	2.92	1.19	0.55	0.88	3.40	1.26	0.58	0.85	2.69	1.09	0.51	0.88
6. When something upsetting happens I try to see things as they are without blowing it out of proportion.	2.88	1.17	0.52	0.88	3.03	1.23	0.33	0.86	2.81	1.13	0.62	0.88
7. I get mad at myself for not being better at some things.	3.00	1.18	0.55	0.88	3.21	1.26	0.62	0.84	2.90	1.13	0.49	0.88
8. When I’m sad or unhappy, I remember that other people also feel this way at times.	2.62	1.14	0.43	0.88	2.61	1.17	0.37	0.86	2.62	1.12	0.48	0.89
9. I’m kind to myself when things go wrong and I’m feeling bad.	2.67	1.19	0.61	0.87	2.74	1.23	0.56	0.85	2.63	1.17	0.65	0.88
10. When I feel bad or upset, I tend to feel most other people are probably happier than I am.	3.46	1.15	0.55	0.88	3.74	1.24	0.55	0.85	3.32	1.08	0.52	0.88
11. When something difficult happens, I try to see things clearly without exaggerations.	3.07	1.08	0.47	0.88	3.11	1.08	0.33	0.86	3.05	1.08	0.55	0.88
12. I’m really hard on myself when I do something wrong.	3.07	1.24	0.57	0.88	3.42	1.26	0.59	0.85	2.90	1.21	0.53	0.88
13. When things aren’t going well, I keep in mind that life is sometimes hard for everyone.	2.71	1.16	0.50	0.88	2.65	1.22	0.40	0.86	2.75	1.13	0.59	0.88
14. When I’m feeling bad or upset, I can’t think of anything else at the time.	3.03	1.12	0.52	0.88	3.32	1.14	0.43	0.85	2.88	1.08	0.54	0.88
15. I try to be understanding and patient with myself even when I mess up.	2.98	1.11	0.51	0.88	3.05	1.18	0.47	0.85	2.95	1.08	0.54	0.88
16. When I’m really struggling, I tend to feel like other people are probably having an easier time of it.	3.24	1.15	0.47	0.88	3.54	1.14	0.49	0.85	3.10	1.14	0.44	0.89
17. When something upsets me, I try to notice my feelings and not get carried away by them.	3.02	1.08	0.36	0.88	3.19	1.24	0.25	0.86	2.94	0.98	0.40	0.89

M = mean, SD = standard deviation, r_it ^c = corrected item-total correlation, α-i = ordinal alpha if the item is removed.

Table 3. Intercorrelations between SCS-Y-SE subscales using Pearson’s correlation test.

Subscale	Self-judgement	Common humanity	Isolation	Mindfulness	Overidentified
Self-kindness	.44**	.57**	.36**	.67**	.34**
Self-judgement	1.000	.20**	.66**	.26**	.71**
Common humanity		1.000	.16**	.46**	.12*
Isolation			1.000	.26**	.57**
Mindfulness				1.000	.25**

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Table 4. Internal consistency of the SCS-Y translated to Swedish.

	Boys (n = 103)		Girls (n = 213)		Total
	α	ω	α	ω	α	ω
Total scale	.86	.83	.89	.88	.88	.87
Subscales
Self-kindness	.68	.72	.72	.73	.70	.72
Self-judgement	.83	.84	.77	.78	.80	.80
Common humanity	.88	.88	.86	.86	.87	.87
Isolation	.82	.82	.75	.75	.78	.79
Mindfulness	.62	.63	.72	.75	.69	.70
Over-identification	.75	#	.70	#	.73	#

*= p < .05, **p < .0.01, ***p < .001.M = mean, SD = standard deviation, α = Cronbach alpha. ω = McDonald’s omega. # = Omega cannot be estimated because the number of items is less than 3.

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of validity measures and Pearson’s correlations between scales.

Total sample N = 316	SCS-Y-SE total scale and subscales
Scales	M	SD	TOT	SK	SJ	CH	I	M	O
Self-Compassion Scale			.72**	.43**	.78**	.21**	.74**	.25**	.68**
WHO-5 Well-being Index total scale	55.67	21.54	.48**	.32**	.50**	.18**	.38**	.25**	.45**
Beck Youth Inventories Depression subscale	17.36	10.31	−.59**	−.40**	−.61**	−.18**	−.55**	−.28**	−.53**
Beck Youth Inventories Anger subscale	10.74	8.64	−.49**	−.34**	−.49**	−.17**	−.38**	−.32**	−.40**
The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – total Anxiety scale	29.46	17.78	−.56**	−.36**	−.61**	−.16**	−.51**	−.26**	−.51**
Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire – Functioning Composite subscale	1.28	1.59	−29**	−.29**	−.23**	−.17*	−.15*	−.24**	−.14
PROMIS Pediatric Pain Interference v.2.0	29.52	13.59	−.21**	−.21**	−.19**	.00	−.18**	−.20**	−.13*

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. M = mean, SD = standard deviation. TOT = Total scale SCS-Y-SE, SK = Self-kindness, SJ = Self-Judgement, CH = Common Humanity, I = Isolation, M = Mindfulness, O = Overidentified.

Table 6. Measurement invariance goodness-of-fit for the 6-factor model of SCS-Y-SE presented by sex and age-group.

Invariance	$\mathit{\chi }$^2(df)	CFI	TLI	RSMEA (90% CI)	$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathit{\chi }$	$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathit{df}$	$\mathrm{\Delta }$CFI	$\mathrm{\Delta }$RSMEA
Sex
Configural	427.37** (200)	0.96	0.94	0.08 (0.07–0.09)
Metric	675.58** (304)	0.93	0.94	0.09 (0.08–0.10)	−248,21	−104	0.03	0.01
Scalar	480.72** (245)	0.96	0.95	0.08 (0.07–0.09)	−194,86	59	−0.02	0.01
Age group
Configural	477.92** (200)	0.95	0.93	0.09 (0.08–0.10)
Metric	530.11** (234)	0.94	0.94	0.09 (0.08–0.10)	−52.19	−34	0.01	0.00
Scalar	528.12** (245)	0.95	0.94	0.09 (0.08–0.10)	1.99	−11	−0.01	0.00

** = p < .001.χ2 = Chi square; df = degrees of freedom; CFI = Comparative Fit Index; RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation; CI = Confidence Interval; TLI = Tucker-Lewis Index; ΔCFI = Change in Comparative Fix Index. For gender groups (girls and boys) Satorra-Bentler $\mathrm{\Delta }\mathit{\chi }$²: Config vs. Metric $\mathit{\chi }$² (104) = 171.59, p < 0.001. Metric vs. Scaler $\mathit{\chi }$² (59) = 103.93, p < 0.001. For age groups: Satorra-Bentler $\mathrm{\Delta }\mathit{\chi }$²: Config vs. Metric $\mathit{\chi }$² (34) = 29.26, p = 0.699. Metric vs. Scaler $\mathit{\chi }$² (11) = 6.04, p = 0.871.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author ID upon reasonable request.