Department of Psychology and Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada.
J Behav Med. 2018 Dec;41(6):850-862. doi: 10.1007/s10865-018-9943-6. Epub 2018 Jun 8.
Many older adults experience chronic age-related stressors (e.g., life regrets or health problems) that are difficult to control and can disturb cortisol regulation. Self-compassion may buffer adverse effects of these stressful experiences on diurnal cortisol secretion in older adulthood. To examine whether self-compassion could benefit older adults' cortisol secretion in the context of chronic and largely uncontrollable age-related stressors, 233 community-dwelling older adults reported their levels of self-compassion, age-related stressors (regret intensity, physical health problems, and functional disability), and relevant covariates. Diurnal cortisol was measured over 3 days and the average area-under-the-curve and slope were calculated. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with lower daily cortisol levels among older adults who reported higher levels of regret intensity, physical health problems, or functional disability (βs < - .53, ps < .01), but not among their counterparts who reported lower levels of these age-related stressors (βs < .24, ps > .28). These results suggest that self-compassion may represent an important personal resource that could protect older adults from stress-related biological disturbances resulting from chronic and uncontrollable stressors.
许多老年人经历着慢性与年龄相关的应激源（例如，生活遗憾或健康问题），这些应激源难以控制，并可能干扰皮质醇的调节。自我同情可能会缓冲这些应激体验对老年期日间皮质醇分泌的不利影响。为了研究自我同情是否可以使老年人在慢性和很大程度上不可控制的与年龄相关的应激源的情况下受益于皮质醇分泌，233 名居住在社区的老年人报告了他们的自我同情水平、与年龄相关的应激源（遗憾强度、身体健康问题和功能障碍）以及相关的协变量。在 3 天内测量了日间皮质醇，计算了平均曲线下面积和斜率。与报告遗憾强度、身体健康问题或功能障碍水平较高的老年人相比，自我同情水平较高与较低的日常皮质醇水平相关（βs<−.53，p<0.01），而与报告这些与年龄相关的应激源水平较低的老年人相比，自我同情水平较高与较低的日常皮质醇水平无关（βs<0.24，p>0.28）。这些结果表明，自我同情可能是一种重要的个人资源，可以保护老年人免受慢性和不可控制的应激源引起的与应激相关的生物干扰。
