Pires Fernanda B C, Lacerda Shirley S, Balardin Joana B, Portes Bruna, Tobo Patrícia R, Barrichello Carla R C, Amaro Edson, Kozasa Elisa H
Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Av. Albert Einstein, 627/701, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Natura Cosméticos S.A, Rodovia Anhanguera km 30.5, Cajamar, SP, Brazil.
BMC Womens Health. 2018 Nov 27;18(1):195. doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0685-y.
Women have been assuming more responsibilities and higher positions in major companies, which exposes them to high levels of stress. Higher perceived work stress is related to higher emotional reactivity. Difficulties with emotional regulation can lead to anxiety and mood disorders, which are more prevalent in women than men. Indeed, women leaders are more likely to experience emotional fatigue than men due to excessive empathy. Our aim was to evaluate the associations between self-compassion (SC) scores to depression symptoms, perceived stress and mindfulness, as well as with brain responses to high-arousal unpleasant and pleasant pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), as measured through functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in women managers.
Forty-six participants were selected for the study. All participants filled the Self Compassion Scale (SCS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). After that they were scanned during an fMRI affective response paradigm. Correlation analysis were performed among these variables.
Our data suggest that women with higher SC scores respond to affective stimuli with higher activation of the precuneus (a brain region related to self-referential processing), lower levels of stress and depression and show greater attention in everyday activities.
SC may be an important characteristic for women leaders because of its association with higher sensitivity to emotional stimuli and mindfulness. These skills may allow them to be more aware of others while being less susceptible for stress and depression symptoms.
女性在大公司中承担着越来越多的责任并担任着更高的职位，这使她们面临着高水平的压力。较高的工作压力感知与较高的情绪反应性相关。情绪调节困难会导致焦虑和情绪障碍，这些在女性中比男性更为普遍。事实上，由于过度共情，女性领导者比男性更容易经历情绪疲劳。我们的目的是评估自我同情（SC）得分与抑郁症状、压力感知和正念之间的关联，以及与通过功能磁共振成像（fMRI）测量的女性管理者对国际情感图片系统（IAPS）中高唤醒不愉快和愉快图片的大脑反应之间的关联。
46名参与者被选入该研究。所有参与者填写了自我同情量表（SCS）、贝克抑郁量表（BDI）、正念意识注意量表（MAAS）和压力感知量表（PSS）。之后，他们在fMRI情感反应范式中接受扫描。对这些变量进行了相关分析。
我们的数据表明，SC得分较高的女性对情感刺激的反应是楔前叶（一个与自我参照加工相关的脑区）激活程度更高、压力和抑郁水平更低，并且在日常活动中表现出更大的注意力。
SC可能是女性领导者的一个重要特征，因为它与对情感刺激的更高敏感性和正念相关。这些技能可能使她们在更了解他人的同时，更不容易出现压力和抑郁症状。
