Psychological flexibility and self-compassion buffer the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities
- 1College of Health Sciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho, United States of America
- 2School of Graduate Psychology, Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, United States of America
Abstract
Individuals with physical disabilities experience higher rates of depression relative to the general population. Shame is a central mechanism linking disability status to poor mental health outcomes, including depression. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion have been shown to change one’s relationship to negative self-evaluations such as shame. The goal of this study was to determine if psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predict depression and buffer the impact of shame on depression in adults with physical disabilities. Adults with physical disabilities (n = 207) completed self-report measures of psychological flexibility, self-compassion, shame, and depression. Consistent with prediction, a series of multiple regressions indicated that psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predicted depression over and beyond shame, and they both mitigated the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities (all p’s < .05). These results suggest that psychological flexibility and self-compassion enhancing treatments, such as mindfulness-based interventions and acceptance and commitment therapy may be helpful in improving the mental health and wellbeing of adults with physical disabilities.
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BibTeX
@article{christopher2026psychological,
title = {{Psychological flexibility and self-compassion buffer the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities}},
author = {Michael Christopher and Xander Kahle and Kaylia Pham},
journal = {PLOS Mental Health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pmen.0000707},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmen.0000707},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Psychological flexibility and self-compassion buffer the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities
AU - Michael Christopher
AU - Xander Kahle
AU - Kaylia Pham
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
JO - PLOS Mental Health
DO - 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000707
UR - https://journals.plos.org/mentalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmen.0000707
AB - Individuals with physical disabilities experience higher rates of depression relative to the general population. Shame is a central mechanism linking disability status to poor mental health outcomes, including depression. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion have been shown to change one’s relationship to negative self-evaluations such as shame. The goal of this study was to determine if psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predict depression and buffer the impact of shame on depression in adults with physical disabilities. Adults with physical disabilities (n = 207) completed self-report measures of psychological flexibility, self-compassion, shame, and depression. Consistent with prediction, a series of multiple regressions indicated that psychological flexibility and self-compassion negatively predicted depression over and beyond shame, and they both mitigated the impact of shame on depression among adults with physical disabilities (all p’s < .05). These results suggest that psychological flexibility and self-compassion enhancing treatments, such as mindfulness-based interventions and acceptance and commitment therapy may be helpful in improving the mental health and wellbeing of adults with physical disabilities.
SN - 2837-8156
ER -