Self-Compassion and Predictors of Criminal Conduct in Adolescent Offenders

We conducted a study of self-compassion, a positive indicator of mental health, as a predictor of criminal conduct in adolescent offenders deprived of their liberty. There was a sample of 63 delinquent adolescents, males between 12 and 18 years of age, who were subjected to a questionnaire of criminal conduct, self-control, aggression, empathy and of self-compassion. Correlation and regression analyses were used to explore the relationship that self-compassion has with self-control, aggression and empathy. The associations between the subscales of self-compassion and self-control were also examined. According to the criminal conduct questionnaire, 52.4% of the sample has a high level of criminal conduct (percentile 85-99). The results of the correlational analysis indicate that self-compassion is associated with the variables self-control and empathy; the self-control variable was revealed as a predictor. The correlations revealed that the subscales of self-kindness and mindfulness were associated with self-control; the simple linear regression analysis showed the existence of a relationship between self-control (predictor variable) and the subscales self- kindness and mindfulness (variable to be predicted). The implications and limitations of these results are discussed.