Measuring self-compassion in people living with dementia: investigating the validity of the Self-Compassion Scale-Short form (SCS-SF)

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of participant demographics, total mean score, and standard deviation (SD) on the SCS-SF.

Demographic	Number of participants (%)	Total mean SCS-SF score (SD)
Gender
Male	119 (61.7)	3.21 (.758)
Female	73 (37.8)	3.06 (.703)
Missing	1 (0.52)	3.33
Age
50–64 years old	42 (21.8)	2.83 (.731)
65 or over	150 (77.7)	3.25 (.717)
Missing	1 (0.52)	3.08
Diagnosis subtype
Alzheimer’s dementia	108 (60.0)	3.25 (.755)
Vascular dementia	20 (10.4)	2.95 (.624)
Mixed dementia	31 (16.1)	3.02 (.754)
Mixed Alzheimer’s and Vascular	10	2.825 (.872)
Other mixed dementia	6	2.83 (.447)
Mixed subtypes not reported	15	3.23 (.753)
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)	19 (9.84)	3.17 (.707)
Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)	8 (4.15)	3.18 (.884)
Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA)	2 (1.04)	2.17 (.236)
Not known	5 (2.59)	3.17 (.257)
Time since diagnosis
Less than 6 months	19 (9.84)	3.11 (.502)
6 months − 1 year	31 (16.1)	3.11 (.635)
1–5 years	93 (48.2)	3.16 (.792)
5–10 years	41 (21.2)	3.21 (.830)
Over 10 years	8 (4.15)	3.29 (.452)
Not known	1 (0.52)	2.25

Table 2. EFA summary of the two-factor solution for the SCS-SF.

Item	Rotated factor loadings (pattern coefficients)		Structure coefficients
	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 1	Factor 2
11. I’m disapproving and judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies.	.838		.820
8. When I fail at something that’s important to me, I tend to feel alone in my failure.	.698		.671
12. I’m intolerant and impatient towards those aspects of my personality I don’t like.	.663		.669
1. When I fail at something important to me I become consumed by feelings of inadequacy.	.654		.675
9. When I’m feeling down I tend to obsess and fixate on everything that’s wrong.	.648		.647
4. When I’m feeling down, I tend to feel like most other people are probably happier than I am.	.614		.620
3. When something painful happens I try to take a balanced view of the situation.		.769		.763
2. I try to be understanding and patient towards those aspects of my personality I don’t like.		.707		.686
5. I try to see my failings as part of the human condition.		.660		.644
7. When something upsets me I try to keep my emotions in balance.		.535		.559
10. When I feel inadequate in some way, I try to remind myself that feelings of inadequacy are shared by most people.		.371		.373
6. When I’m going through a very hard time, I give myself the caring and tenderness I need.	.322	.362	.409	.439
Eigenvalues	3.82	2.35
% of variance	31.8	19.6
Cronbach’s alpha reliability	.839	.746

Note. n = 193, only coefficients above 0.3 are shown. For Cronbach’s alpha reliability Factor 1 included items 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12. Factor 2 included items 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10.

Table 3. Correlations between SCS-SF total mean (plus sub-factors identified through EFA) and CASP-12 v2, RSES, and the GDS-15 total scores.

Scales	SCS-SF Total Mean	SCS-SF Factor 1	SCS-SF Factor 2
CASP-12 v2^a	.550**	.512**	.341**
Control and Autonomy subscale	.522**	.486**	.322**
Pleasure subscale	.425**	.404**	.252**
Self-reaslisation subscale	.421**	.382**	.273**
RSES^b	.680**	.660**	.381**
GDS-15^c	−0.541**	−0.554**	−0.268**
SCS-SF Total Mean^b		.833**	.730**
SCS-SF Factor 1^b			.230*

** p < 0.001.

* p < 0.01 Sample size.

^a n = 191.

^b n = 193.

^c n = 192.

CASP-12 v2: Control, Autonomy, Self-realisation, and Pleasure Scale.

RSES: Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale.

GDS-15: Geriatric Depression Scale.

Table 4. ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and t-test statistics for demographic group differences in total mean SCS-SF.

Demographic group	Test	P value	Cohens d	Eta-squared
Gender^a (t-test; male, female)	t = 1.41	.161	.203
Age^a (t-test; 50–64 years old, 65 or over)	t = 3.37	<.001*	.569
Diagnosis subtype^b (ANOVA; Alzheimer’s, Vascular, Mixed dementia, ‘Other’ dementia’s)	F = 1.42	.239		.0226
Time since diagnosis^a (Kruskal-Wallis; less than 6 months, 6 months-1 year, 1–5 years, 5–10 years, over 10 years)	H=.866	.929		.0275

* p < 0.001, Sample size.

^a 192.

^b 188, Diagnosis subtype; ‘Other’ dementia group comprised FTD, DLB and PCA.

Data availability statement

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