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Psychometric validity of the Compassionate Engagement and Action Scale for Adolescents: a Swedish version

Eva Henje
Eva Henje
, 
Frida Carlberg Rindestig
Frida Carlberg Rindestig
, 
Paul Gilbert
Paul Gilbert
 and 
Inga Dennhag
Inga Dennhag
   | Jul 18, 2020
Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology's Cover Image
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Article Category: research-article
Published Online: Jul 18, 2020
Page range: 70 - 80
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2020-007
Keywords
© 2020 Eva Henje et al., published by Sciendo.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

FIGURE 1.

Principal Component Analyses of 1) Compassion for Others, 2) Compassion from Others, 3) Self-compassion.WHO5tot = WHO-5 Well-being Index; SCSpositive = self-compassion positive scale; BYI-D = Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment Depression; BYI-A = Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment Anger
Principal Component Analyses of 1) Compassion for Others, 2) Compassion from Others, 3) Self-compassion.WHO5tot = WHO-5 Well-being Index; SCSpositive = self-compassion positive scale; BYI-D = Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment Depression; BYI-A = Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment Anger

Standardized Factor Loadings for the Swedish CEASY-SE (N = 316)

Item number and meaning of itemCompassion for others: EngagementCompassion for others: ActionCompassion from others: Engagement*Compassion from others: Action*Self-compassion: EngagementSelf-compassion: Action
1. Care for wellbeing.88 .70 .84 
2. Attention/sensitive to suffering.79 .73 .57 
5. Distress tolerance.67 .74 .36 
6. Empathy.69 .70 .70 
8. Being accepting and non-judgmental.71 .81 .68 
1. Directing attention to what is helpful .91 .85 .90
2. Thinking and reasoning – what is helpful .89 .86 .85
4. Taking helpful actions .81 .90 .89
5. Creating inner feelings of support and kindness .86 .87 .88

Descriptive statistics for total sample, boys and girls in the Engagement and Action subscales of Compassion for others, Compassion from others and Self-compassion

Total sampleN = 316BoysN = 103GirlsN = 213
ItemsMSDritcα-iMSDritcα-iMSDritcα-i
Engagement47.448.53  44.059.56  49.087.47  
Compassion for others: When others are distressed or upset by things…
Compassion from others: When I’m distressed or upset by things37.8010.63  37.219.53  38.0811.14  
Self-compassion: When I’m distressed or upset by things38.999.68  39.6110.00  38.709.53  
1aI want to help others to feel better8.881.780.670.768.172.190.690.779.231.430.600.73
1Bothers want to help me to feel better6.972.350.580.826.502.340.490.787.192.330.620.84
1CI want to help myself to feel better6.652.720.490.667.022.740.500.696.472.700.490.68
2AI notice the feelings of others8.351.630.660.777.811.830.730.778.611.460.570.74
2Bothers notice my feelings5.882.610.620.815.942.510.580.765.852.660.640.83
2cI notice my own feelings6.972.420.520.657.122.360.550.686.902.450.500.68
4aI feel moved6.562.450.440.825.552.440.330.857.052.310.450.78
4bothers feel moved5.312.250.530.835.072.090.400.805.422.320.580.84
4cI feel moved6.142.400.220.744.942.470.310.746.722.140.280.74
5aI can stand their different types of feelings7.642.150.580.787.192.380.590.797.862.000.550.74
5bothers can stand different types of my feelings6.702.240.660.806.632.040.600.756.742.340.680.82
5cI can stand my own different types of feelings6.612.510.440.686.462.740.510.686.692.390.410.71
6acan understand their feelings7.551.950.600.777.332.170.620.797.661.830.600.73
6bothers can understand my feelings5.792.420.630.816.052.300.610.755.672.470.650.83
6cI can understand my feelings6.172.470.580.646.732.460.600.665.902.430.570.66
8aI accept their feelings8.451.830.560.788.002.080.640.788.671.650.470.76
8bothers accept my feelings7.142.420.670.807.012.240.620.757.202.500.690.82
8cI accept my feelings6.452.550.450.687.352.460.370.736.022.480.520.67
Action32.476.85  29.757.58  33.796.06  
Compassion for others: When others are distressed or upset by things…
Compassion from others: When I’m distressed or upset by things…27.548.08  26.248.09  28.168.02  
Self-compassion: When I’m distressed or upset by things…23.379.11  25.058.77  22.569.18  
1aI focus my attention on things that can help them8.151.920.830.857.502.120.860.858.461.740.780.83
1bothers focus their attention on things that can help me6.672.310.850.896.382.340.850.906.812.290.850.88
1cI focus my attention on things that can help me5.952.590.840.896.362.390.830.895.752.670.840.89
2aI find ways to help them handle their feelings7.992.090.800.867.312.330.780.888.311.880.800.83
2bothers will find ways to help me handle my feelings6.442.410.850.896.172.340.890.896.572.440.840.89
2cI find ways to handle my feelings5.982.600.790.916.342.560.770.915.802.610.790.90
4aI do things that will help them to feel better7.631.930.740.887.062.000.770.887.901.830.690.87
4bothers do things that will help me to feel better6.722.160.820.906.412.120.830.916.862.160.810.89
4cI do things that will help me to feel better.6.102.430.830.896.412.370.840.885.952.450.830.89
5aI am kind and supportive to them8.701.880.740.887.872.150.720.909.111.590.710.86
5bothers are kind and supportive to me7.712.080.770.927.272.120.760.937.922.030.770.91
5cI am kind and supportive to myself5.352.520.800.905.942.470.810.905.072.500.800.90
Compassion for others total scale79.9114.27  73.8015.65  82.8712.57  
Compassion from others total scale65.3317.40  63.4516.31  66.2417.87  
Self-compassion total scale62.3716.82  64.6616.63  61.2616.84  

Intercorrelations between CEASY-SE Subscales using Spearman’s Rho

MeasureSelf-compassion ActionCompassion for others EngagementCompassion for others ActionCompassion from others EngagementCompassion from others Action
Self-compassion Engagement.642**.242**.182**.456**.315**
Self-compassion Action1.000.122*.164**.437**.387**
Compassion for others Engagement 1.000.699**.350**.367**
Compassion for others Action  1.000.364**.497**
Compassion from others Engagement   1.000.714**
Compassion from others Action    1.000

Spearman’s correlations between CEASY-SE subscales and validity measures

MeasureSCS positive scaleWHO-5RCADS AnxBYI-DBYI-ASDQ impactPROMIS pain
Compassion for others total scale.042.050-.012-.075-.128*.002-.094
Compassion from others total scale.342**.293**-.265**-.375**-.371**-.188*-.175
Self-compassion total scale.565**.491**-.462**-.511**-.414**-.259**-.251

Descriptive statistics of validity measures

Total sample N = 316
ScalesMSD
Self-Compassion Scale positive scale35.889.65
WHO-5 Well-being Index total scale55.6721.54
Beck Youth Inventories Depression subscale17.3610.31
Beck Youth Inventories Anger subscale10.748,64
The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – total Anxiety scale29.4617.78
Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire – Functioning Composite subscale1.281.59
Patient Reported Outcome Measurements Information System - item bank Pain29.5213.59

Internal Consistency and Mann-Whitney U test between Boys and Girls

Boys (n = 103 )Girls (n = 213 )TotalMann-Whitney U
MSDαMSDαMSDαUpES r
Compassion for others Engagement38.508.46.9142.046.13.8940.887.16.828308.500.000*-0.20
Compassion for others Action29.757.58.9033.796.06.8832.476.85.907303.500.000*-0.27
Total68.2514.74.8075.8311.41.8473.3613.06.917525.000.000*-0.25
Compassion from others Engagement32.148.51.9032.669.63.9232.499.27.8310638.000.663-0.02
Compassion from others Action26.248.09.9328.168.02.9225.548.08.929408.000.040-0.12
Total58.3815.12.9060.8216.46.9260.0216.05.919933.500.173-0.08
Self-compassion Engagement34.678,96.7431.988.70.7432.858.86.748864.000.006*-0.16
Self-compassion Action25.058.77.9222.569.18.9223.379.11.929177.500.018-0.13
Total59.7215.90.8754.5416.32.8856.2316.34.888817.500.005**-0.16
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