The impact of self-compassion on self-stigma and mental health among ethnic minority students in Hong Kong

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of acculturative stress on the mental health of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong and explore the potential protective role of self-compassion. Specifically, this study aimed to examine the relationship between acculturative stress and self-stigma, and their subsequent effects on depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, the study aimed to investigate the relationships between self-compassion, self-stigma, and mental health outcomes.
Method: A total of 167 ethnic minority students (84 females; Mage = 12.81, SD = 2.557) completed questionnaires assessing acculturative stress, self-stigma, self-compassion, depression, anxiety, and stress. Simple mediation analyses and bootstrap analyses were used to examine the interrelations among these variables.
Results: The results showed that acculturative stress was positively associated with self-stigma content, leading to higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. On the other hand, self-compassion was linked to lower self-stigma content, which in turn was linked to lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that acculturative stress can have adverse psychological consequences for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, while self-compassion may serve as a protective factor against such consequences. These results underscore the importance of promoting self-compassion as a coping mechanism to help ethnic minorities manage self-stigma and improve their mental health. All rights reserved.