Shame, Self-Compassion, and Valued Living Among Survivors of Interpersonal Violence

Objectives Trauma-related shame is predictive of negative health consequences following interpersonal violence victimization, including development and severity of PTSD; however, less is known about its impact on other indicators of psychosocial functioning. Valued living refers to engagement in behaviors based on what brings someone purpose and may be disrupted in the aftermath of interpersonal violence victimization. A lack of a self-compassionate attitude may explain the negative effects of trauma-related shame in obstructing values-consistent behavior. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was used. One hundred forty-one survivors of interpersonal violence (age: M = 19.74, SD = 1.64 years; 83.7% female; 69.5% White) completed this anonymous, internet-based study. Participants completed measures assessing trauma history, self-compassion, trauma-related shame, and valued living. Results Parallel mediation models were used to examine the mediating effects of two components of self-compassion, compassionate self-responding and uncompassionate self-responding, on the relation between trauma-related shame and values obstruction and values progress, respectively. Results demonstrated significant indirect effects of uncompassionate self-responding on the relation between trauma-related shame and values obstruction ( β = .20, p < .001, CI = 0.09, 0.30) and values progress ( β = − 0.12, p < .01, CI = − 0.22, − 0.03), while controlling for PTSD symptom severity. Indirect effects through compassionate self-responding were not significant. Conclusions An inability to respond in a compassionate way to one’s own distressing internal states, such as trauma-related shame, may disrupt valued living. Future work should continue to highlight valued living as an important consideration in trauma recovery.