Abstract
Objective
The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the factorial structure of the short-form version of the self-compassion scale (SCS-SF) and validate its use with medical students.
Methods
Two hundred medical students completed an electronic questionnaire containing the 12-item SCS-SF and the 16-item Oldenburg burnout inventory. The authors performed reliability and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to evaluate the internal consistency and factorial structure of the SCS-SF scores, and correlational analyses to examine relationships of self-compassion with student engagement and exhaustion.
Results
The internal consistency of the SCS-SF was 0.86. Self-compassion scores were positively correlated with engagement scores (r = 0.24; p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with exhaustion scores (r = − 0.44; p < 0.001). The CFA results for the two-factor model (formed by three positive and three negative components) indicated an improved fit over the single-factor model. The positive factor (self-compassion) was positively correlated with engagement scores (r = 0.17; p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with exhaustion scores (r = − 0.32; p < 0.001). The negative factor (self-criticism) was negatively correlated with engagement scores (r = − 0.25; p < 0.001) and positively correlated with exhaustion scores (r = 0.44; p < 0.001).
Conclusions
The SCS-SF scores had good internal consistency and expected relations with student engagement and exhaustion. Although the single, general self-compassion factorial structure had an acceptable fit with the data, the hierarchical two-factor structure of the SCS-SF provides support for the idea that distinguishing between self-compassion and self-criticism in medical students may be important.
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Funding Source
Preparation of this paper was supported by a grant to the first author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Grant No. 430-2016-00267). Grantees undertaking such projects are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment. This paper, therefore, does not necessarily represent the positions or the policies of the Canadian Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Questions related to this paper should be directed to the first author by contacting oksana.babenko@ualberta.ca.
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Babenko, O., Guo, Q. Measuring Self-Compassion in Medical Students: Factorial Validation of the Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS-SF). Acad Psychiatry 43, 590–594 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01095-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01095-x