Guilt and Depressive Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in Perinatal Loss.

Background

Perinatal loss is a painful and often invisible experience that deeply challenges mental and emotional health, with lasting impact on those who endure it. Method: This study assessed guilt, depressive symptoms, and self-compassion in portuguese women after perinatal loss, considering timing of the loss. The mediating effect of self-compassion on guilt and depressive symptoms was also examined, as well as the relationships between variables. Of the 545 women who answered the online questionnaire, 501 were eligible.

Results

Participants reported high depressive symptoms, and moderate guilt and self-compassion. Self-compassion correlated negatively with guilt and depressive symptoms, which were positively correlated. Mediation analysis using PROCESS (Hayes, 2013) showed that self-compassion significantly mediated the link between guilt and depressive symptoms (ß = .05; 95% CI [.03, .08]). Findings indicate self-compassion plays a protective role, mitigating effects of guilt and depression, and emphasize its clinical relevance as a therapeutic resource in perinatal grief.