From inner care to healthy living: Cross-sectional evidence that self-compassion fulfills basic psychological needs and relates to lower insomnia and loneliness.

BACKGROUND

Self-compassion has emerged as a protective psychological factor that supports mental health and adaptive lifestyle behaviours. Recent research suggests that the fulfilment of basic psychological needs-autonomy, competence, and relatedness-may mediate the effects of self-compassion on behavioural health outcomes such as sleep and social connectedness.

PURPOSE: This study examined whether basic psychological needs mediate the associations between self-compassion and two lifestyle-related outcomes: insomnia and loneliness, among Japanese adults.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in June 2024 with 400 Japanese adults aged 20-59 years old. Participants completed validated Japanese versions of the Self-Compassion Scale, Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale, Athens Insomnia Scale, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Mediation analyses were conducted using multiple regression procedures based on Baron and Kenny's approach, followed by Sobel tests to assess the significance of indirect effects.

RESULTS

Need satisfaction fully mediated the association between self-compassion and insomnia (Sobel z = -5.44, p < .001), and partially mediated the association between self-compassion and loneliness (Sobel z = -7.34, p < .001). The indirect effects in both models were statistically significant, supporting the mediating role of basic psychological needs.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cross-sectional sample, greater self-compassion was associated with lower insomnia and loneliness indirectly via higher basic psychological need satisfaction. The findings suggest that sleep improvement may be primarily driven by need satisfaction, while loneliness may require additional psychological mechanisms beyond basic need fulfilment.