Self-compassion’s impact on perceived stress and perseverative thinking as it relates to sleep quality among college students

Abstract

Self-compassion interventions have shown promise in improving sleep quality, but their effects have been modest, inviting more research into underlying mechanisms. This study examined whether perceived stress and perseverative thinking (rumination and worry) explain the link between self-compassion and sleep quality. A sample of 340 undergraduates completed validated measures of self-compassion, perceived stress, rumination, worry, and sleep quality. In simple mediation models, each cognitive-affective factor accounted for significant indirect associations. However, in a parallel mediation model, only perceived stress and worry emerged as distinct explanatory pathways, while rumination no longer explained unique variance. These findings extend prior research by identifying general worry as a novel explanatory factor and demonstrate the value of modeling overlapping cognitive processes concurrently. Given the modest effects of self-compassion interventions targeting sleep quality, prompting individuals to apply self-compassion to experiences marked by stress and worry may more directly engage mechanisms most strongly linked to sleep quality.