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An exploration of psychological flexibility and self-compassion among parents of young infants Una O'Boyle-Finnegan (24164583) PUREID: 248167746 Psychology self-compassion parents This research portfolio was submitted in part fulfilment for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The portfolio contains a systematic literature review and a large-scale research project, both prepared for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Systematic review: Title: A Meta Analytic Review of the Relationship Between Self- compassion and Depression in Mothers during the Perinatal Period Description: A meta-analysis of 10 samples was carried out to estimate the average effect size for the association between self-compassion and depression in women in the perinatal period. Results showed an overall negative association between self-compassion and depression in perinatal women (r= -.58) Variance in scores was not accounted for by stage in perinatal period or type of sample. Results suggest that self-compassion may act as a buffer against symptoms of depression in pregnant and postpartum women. Future exploration of the effectiveness of compassion-focused interventions is warranted. Future longitudinal research with clinical populations is needed however to increase our understanding of the relationship between these variables. Large scale research project: Title: The Role of Psychological Flexibility and Self-compassion in Predicting Parental Distress and Adjustment in Parents of Preterm Infants Description: A quantitative analysis of 215 participants using multiple hierarchical regressions revealed psychological flexibility and self-compassion as unique predictors of psychological distress in parents of preterm infants. Components of psychological flexibility were unique predictors of individual and relational adjustment while self-compassion was predictive of relational but not individual adjustment. The portion of variance accounted for by self-compassion after controlling for psychological flexibility was modest however. Components of psychological flexibility but not self-compassion retained their predictive value for individual and relational adjustment when controlling for psychological distress. This study provides preliminary evidence of the potential protective role of psychological flexibility and self-compassion in the development of psychological distress and adjustment difficulties in parents of preterm infants and provides support for future development of acceptance based interventions for this population. 2026-10-01T17:17:34Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32631708.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/An_exploration_of_psychological_flexibility_and_self-compassion_among_parents_of_young_infants/32631708 All Rights Reserved