Relações entre autocompaixão, bullying e clima escolar na adolescência

Abstract

Self-compassion is defined as an open and self-directed, warm, non-evaluative posture, in the face of experiences involving failures and suffering. A compassionate posture provides openness to suffering itself, experiencing feelings of warmth, care and understanding with oneself and one's own errors and inadequacies, recognizing that past experiences are inherent in human experience. Although there are already a considerable number of international publications, with regard to the Brazilian context, the field of self-compassion is little explored, especially in adolescence. It is observed that self-compassion can be an interesting emotional regulation strategy for adolescents, considering the changes anticipated at this stage of development. Thus, this project investigates possible relationships between self-compassion and experiences of violence between peers, specifically bullying, since adolescence is identified in the literature as the period of greatest occurrence of this phenomenon. In addition, self-compassion is associated with increased feelings of well-being and decreased stress, two areas impacted by the experience of bullying. The hypothesis is that the presence, at a greater or lesser level, of self-compassion and self-criticism may influence the perceptions of young people, who experience bullying (being victims or aggressors), about school climate, engagement, anxiety and depression symptoms. This study examined wheter self-compassion has a moderating role in the relationship between bullying, school climate, engagement, anxiety and depression. The design was quantitative, transversal and explanatory. The sample consisted in 688 adolescents, 55.7% female (N = 382), aged 12 to 18 years (M = 15.0, SD = 1.8), students from 4 public schools located in the cities of Porto Alegre, Região Metropolitana and Serra Gaúcha. The measures were: Socio-Demographic Data, Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-A) - Adolescents Version, Cuestionario Multimodal de Interação Escolar (CMIE-III), Brazilian School Climate Survey-Student (BSCS-S), Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Significant and negative associations were found between self-compassion and its dimensions, with roles in bullying, as victim and extreme victim, as well as victimization by verbal and relational bullying. In addition, positive associations were found between the subscales of autocriticism with victim roles, extreme victimization, and verbal and relational victimization. Negative associations between self-compassion and symptoms of anxiety and depression, levels of self-criticism were also found. Also, positive associations between self-compassion and its subscales were identified, with the role of active observer in bullying, perception of school climate and engagement in school. Through the analysis of moderation, it was found that self-compassion moderates the relationship between being a victim in bullying and depressive symptoms, in order to reduce the outcome. However, in the relationship between being aggressor and depression, self-compassion increase the outcome. No moderation effect of self-compassion was found in the relationship between bullying and anxious symptoms. However, self-criticism moderated the relationship between being a victim of bullying and perceived school climate, as well as the relationship between being aggressor and outcomes such as school climate perception and school engagement. These findings demonstrate that there are important differences in how self-compassion affects adolescents, depending on their involvement in bullying situations. Self-compassion can act as a protective factor for the victim, but may not necessarily represent protection for the perpetrator. Furthermore, while for the victim self-criticism may contribute to a more negative view of the school climate, as far as the aggressor is concerned, self-criticism can assist in reducing depressive symptoms and increase engagement and positive perception of the school. Cognitive and emotional differences between aggressors and victims should be further explored in order to understand the role of self-compassion and self-criticism for these individuals. The effects of self-compassion and self-criticism on the identity formation of adolescents and the quality of their interpersonal relationships seem to be related to individual and cultural variables. Studies that assess cultural aspects are equally important.