Adolescent self-compassion: Associations with narcissism, self-esteem, aggression, and internalizing symptoms in at-risk males

• Examined the relations between self-compassion and adolescent narcissism.
• Negative domains of self-compassion were related to vulnerable narcissism.
• Self-compassion was negatively related to self-esteem and aggression.

Self-compassion is an attitude toward oneself that involves perceiving one’s experiences as an opportunity for self-awareness and improvement, as well as limited self-judgment after failure. Self-compassion has not been extensively studied in adolescence, a time when self-perception and self-appraisals regarding success and failure take on notable importance. This study considered the connection between self-compassion, narcissism, self-esteem, aggression, and internalizing problems in a sample of 251 male adolescents, ages 16–18, attending a residential program. Self-compassion was negatively correlated with aggression and vulnerable narcissism and positively correlated with self-esteem. In general, self-compassion did not exhibit the hypothesized protective effect on the relation between narcissism and aggression. Findings indicate that, as expected, self-compassion is indicative of a relatively secure, positive sense of self in adolescents.