Self-compassion mediates the impact of family support on clinical and personal recovery among people with mental illness

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the impact of family support on the recovery of people with mental illness and to explore the potential mechanisms underlying this impact. Specifically, we examined whether family support would be associated with clinical recovery (as indicated by symptom severity, social functioning, and work functioning) and personal recovery (as indicated by recovery perceptions and life satisfaction) among people with mental illness. We also examined whether these associations would be mediated by self-compassion.

Method: A total of 356 people with mental illness provided cross-sectional questionnaire data on family support, self-compassion, symptom severity, social functioning, work functioning, recovery perceptions, and life satisfaction.

Results: Path analyses showed that family support was associated positively with self-compassion, which was, in turn, related to lower symptom severity, higher social functioning and work functioning, more positive perceptions of recovery, and greater life satisfaction. Sobel tests and bootstrap analyses further revealed that family support had indirect effects on symptom severity, social functioning, work functioning, recovery perceptions, and life satisfaction via self-compassion.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that people with mental illness who receive greater support from the family are better able to have self-caring attitudes. With higher levels of self-compassion, they may have less psychopathology and better functioning. They may also have more positive experiences and perceptions of recovery and attain greater levels of life satisfaction and enjoyment.

Preregistration: This study is not preregistered. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).