Examining the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion and social anxiety in adolescents

In this study, the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion and social anxiety in adolescents and the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between mindfulness and social anxiety and the sub-dimensions of social anxiety were examined. The research was conducted on 524 high school students who continued their education at the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade levels in Anatolian high schools located in Sarıçam and Yüreğir districts of Adana city center. Of the participants aged between 13-18, 307 (58.6%) were girls and 217 (41.4%) were boys. In the research, data on the students' conscious awareness was obtained from the "Mindful Attention Awareness Scale" (Özyeşil, Aslan, Kesici, ve Deniz, 2011), data on their self-compassion was obtained from the "Self-Compassion Scale" (Akın, Akın ve Abacı, 2007), data on their social anxiety was obtained from the "Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents" (Aydın ve Sütçü, 2007). The collected data were analyzed with Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis and Process Macro 4.2 plug-in using IBM SPSS.20 version. In the study, there was a significant positive relationship between self-compassion and mindfulness in adolescents; Negatively significant relationships were determined in the relationship between self-compassion and mindfulness and social anxiety and sub-dimensions of social anxiety. As a result of the mediation analysis, it was found that self-compassion was a partial mediator variable between mindfulness, social anxiety and sub-dimensions of social anxiety in adolescents. The results were discussed within the framework of the findings obtained as a result of the literature review and suggestions were presented. Keywords: Mindfulness, self-compassion, social anxiety.