The Self-Compassionate Coping Measure (4 items): Psychometric features and relationships with depression and anxiety in adults

Self-compassion refers to a positive, kind attitude of a person toward oneself when confronted with difficulties. A self-compassionate coping style may buffer against the development of psychological problems. Aim was to introduce a new, 4-item measure for Self-compassion and to test its psychometric properties. In addition, its relationships with Neff’s Self Compassion Scale (SCS) and with the HADS depression and anxiety scales were studied, in an adult general population sample. The results showed that the SCCM had a high reliability, confirming internal validity. In addition, the SCCM was strongly related to all subscales and total score of the SCS, suggesting construct validity. Finally, also strong relationships were found with symptoms of depression and anxiety, suggesting criterion validity. The SCCM might therefore be considered a valuable and reliable tool in the study of self-compassion associated with mental-health problems, while it also might provide us with targets for intervention.