A vergonha e o bem-estar psicológico dos adolescentes: O medo de receber compaixão e os sentimentos de segurança e ligação aos outros como processos mediadores

Objectives: The current study aims to test the mediating role of fears of receiving compassion from others and of current feelings of social safeness and connectedness in the association between external shame and the psychological well-being of adolescents. We hypothesize that adolescents with higher levels of external shame may have lower psychological well-being indicators due to increased fear of receiving compassion from others and decreased feelings of social safeness. Methods: A total of 361 Portuguese adolescents of both sexes (43.8% boys; 56.2% girls), aged between 12 and 18 participated in this study by completing self-report measures to evaluate feelings of shame, fears of compassion, current feelings of social safeness, and the psychological well-being of adolescents. Data were analyzed through descriptive and correlational statistics, and the suitability of the model was tested via path analysis. Results: Results seemed to demonstrate that, in both sexes, adolescents’ external shame is associated with psychological well-being. This effect was mediated by increased fear of receiving others' compassion and decreased connection and security feelings in social contexts. Specifically, results indicated that the tested model presented an adequate adjustment to the data, explaining 15.0% of the variance of fears of receiving compassion from others, 37.0% of the variance of current feelings of social safeness, and 46.0% of the variance of the psychological well-being of adolescents. Conclusions: This study contributes to a better understanding of the role that feelings of inferiority, fears of receiving compassion from others, and difficulty establishing safe and pleasurable relationships with others, in the social context, have on the psychological well-being of adolescents of both sexes.