Beyond skin deep: Self-compassion mediates the link between body shame and psychopathology in people with alopecia and psoriasis

This study investigated the psychological impact of alopecia and psoriasis, focusing on the role of self-compassion in mediating the relationship between body shame and psychopathology. It involved 377 adults from the general population, 78 with alopecia, and 67 with psoriasis. Results indicated that individuals with these dermatological conditions experience higher body shame and depressive symptoms, and lower self-compassion compared to the general population. Self-compassion was found to be negatively correlated with body shame, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. Mediation analyses revealed that self-compassion significantly mediated the relationship between external shame and both depression and anxiety, explaining 50% and 22% of the variance, respectively. The findings suggest that compassion-focused therapies could be beneficial in reducing body image shame and related psychological distress in people with alopecia and psoriasis.