Self-Compassion and Depression Symptoms in Masters Athletes: Examining a Potential Protective Relationship
Roxy H. O’Rourke et al.
What the paper says
Self-compassion may protect against poor mental health, but its role in adults engaged in competitive sport is less known. This study examined self-compassion and depression symptoms in masters athletes ( N = 133, 39.1% female, M age = 54.3 years, M VO2max = 45.9 ml·kg −1 ·min −1 ), exploring training factors as covariates. Participants completed questionnaires and fitness tests. Average self-compassion was high ( M = 3.58, SD = 0.55), with 54.9% scoring above a clinical threshold for depression. No significant sex differences were found in self-compassion or depression symptoms. As hypothesized, higher self-compassion was significantly associated with fewer depression symptoms (β = −2.67, SE = 0.52, p < .001). None of the covariates (sex, age, body mass index, maximal aerobic capacity, training hours, and competitions per year) were significantly linked to depression. The model explained 15% of depression variance. These findings suggest that self-compassion interventions could be a useful strategy to reduce depression symptoms in masters athletes.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.