{"doi":"10.1037/hea0001137","title":"Self-compassion and subclinical cardiovascular disease among midlife women.","abstract":"OBJECTIVE: Self-compassion is a positive psychological construct characterized by extending compassion toward oneself, often during periods of suffering. Whereas self-compassion has been associated with psychological outcomes, research linking self-compassion to physical health is limited. We tested the hypothesis that greater self-compassion would be associated with less subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) as assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). We adjusted for demographics, CVD risk factors and additionally depressive symptoms in these associations. METHOD: Women (N = 195; M age = 59 years) without CVD were recruited. Women completed questionnaires (Neff Self-Compassion Scale, Center for Epidemiology Studies of Depression Scale); physical measures (body mass index [BMI], blood pressure [BP]); phlebotomy (lipids, insulin resistance); and ultrasound assessments of the carotid artery (mean, maximal IMT). Cross-sectional associations between self-compassion and IMT were assessed in linear regression models covarying for age, race/ethnicity, education, and CVD risk factors (BMI, BP, insulin resistance, lipids, medications), and additionally depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Higher self-compassion was associated with lower mean IMT [B(SE)=-.03 (.01), p = .02], adjusting for demographic factors and CVD risk factors. Associations persisted adjusting for depressive symptoms. When considering self-compassion subscale bifactors, the positive self-compassion bifactor (self-compassion), but not negative self-compassion bifactor (self-coldness), was related to lower IMT. CONCLUSIONS: Self-compassion is associated with lower subclinical CVD. Associations were not explained by standard CVD risk factors nor by depressive symptoms. Future research should consider whether enhancing self-compassion improves women's vascular health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).","journal":"Health Psychology","year":2021,"id":179927,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":18,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9596,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":728278,"name":"Megan M. Fritz","orcid":"0000-0002-8217-747X","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":386008,"name":"Yue‐Fang Chang","orcid":"0000-0003-0080-4597","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":376999,"name":"Emma Barinas‐Mitchell","orcid":"0000-0002-7280-7781","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":104956,"name":"Pauline M. Maki","orcid":"0000-0002-8443-3430","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":341542,"name":"Rebecca C. Thurston","orcid":"0000-0001-6580-1202","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":43,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:47:53.089578Z","pmid":"34914480","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}