An Analysis of the Relationship Between Self-Compassion, Psychological Inflexibility, Psychological Health, and PTSD Severity in a Partial Hospitalization Program

Abstract

PTSD symptoms and psychological inflexibility have been linked to a lack of self-compassion and poor psychological health. Prior work has explored these relationships in a trauma-exposed undergraduate population and found that, while self-compassion was correlated with PTSD symptom severity at the bivariate level, this relationship was no longer significant when accounting for psychological inflexibility. Additionally, self-compassion and psychological inflexibility predicted psychological health. The present study sought to test these findings in PTSD patients enrolled in an exposure-based partial hospitalization program. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-consistent measures (i.e., Valued Living Questionnaire, Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale [Short Form], Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire [Short Form]) were used to assess psychological health. The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (II) were used to measure PTSD symptoms and Psychological Inflexibility, respectively. Our results were largely consistent with previous investigations. We found a negative relationship between psychological inflexibility and psychological health, as well as a positive relationship between psychological inflexibility and PTSD symptom severity. Future research should measure these constructs across different time points to explore the benefit of viewing self-compassion and other related constructs (e.g., courage and love) as values in an ACT model for PTSD treatment.