Self-Compassion as a Buffer of Stress and Predictor of Emotion Regulation Among Indian Postgraduate Medical Trainees: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Postgraduate medical training is characterized by high stress and emotional demands, often leading to burnout and difficulties in regulating emotions. Identifying protective psychological factors that can mitigate these effects is critical for trainee well-being. This cross-sectional study examined the role of self-compassion in relation to stress and emotion regulation among 80 postgraduate medical trainees at a teaching hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. Participants completed a sociodemographic proforma, the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ). Reliability analysis showed excellent internal consistency for both SCS (α=0.89) and DERS (α=0.91). Correlation analysis revealed that self-kindness and mindfulness were significantly negatively associated with emotion dysregulation, while self-judgement and over-identification showed positive associations. In multivariable regression, self-kindness (β=-0.24, p=0.012) and mindfulness (β=-0.22, p=0.019) independently predicted lower dysregulation, whereas self-judgement (β=+0.27, p=0.006) predicted higher dysregulation, after adjusting for age, gender, marital status, and substance use. Mediation analysis using bootstrapping demonstrated that self-compassion partially mediated the association between stress and dysregulation, accounting for approximately 32% of the total effect. These findings highlight self-compassion as a robust psychological resource that not only predicts emotion regulation but also buffers the impact of stress in medical trainees. Incorporating compassion-based training into postgraduate curricula may therefore represent a feasible strategy to promote resilience, reduce burnout, and support sustainable professional development.