An exploration of relationship between self-compassion and voice-related distress in people who hear voices.

OBJECTIVE

The cognitive behavior model of voice hearing suggests individuals who have lower self-esteem, perceive themselves to be of low social rank, and hold negative beliefs about their voices, are more distressed by their voices. Self-compassion may help reduce voice-related distress through the activation of positive self and social mentalities. The aim of the present study was to examine the role of self-compassion in variables within the cognitive behavior model.

METHOD: Measures assessing self-compassion, negative affect, self-esteem, voice malevolence, omnipotence, and distress were administered to a sample of clinical voice hearers (N = 53).

RESULTS

Correlation and mediation analyses were conducted. Higher self-compassion was associated with lower negative affect, voice malevolence, omnipotence, and distress. Voice malevolence was found to mediate the relationship between self-compassion and voice distress. Self-compassion was a stronger predictor of these constructs than self-esteem.

CONCLUSION

Improving self-compassion may have significant clinical benefits in reducing voice-related distress.