Traumatic life events are associated with increased risk of hearing voices and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms have been implicated in this relationship. Studies indicate that increased self-compassion is associated with reduced PTS symptoms and voice-distress. The present study sought to examine whether self-compassion moderated the relationship between PTS symptoms and voice-distress. Self-report and clinician-administered questionnaires were used to measure self-compassion, PTS symptom severity, voice-frequency, and voice-distress in 62 trauma-affected voice-hearers who presented to a community voice-hearing clinic. Correlation analyses revealed that PTS symptom severity was positively correlated with voice-distress, but not voice-frequency, and that self-compassion was negatively correlated with voice-distress and PTS symptom severity. While self-compassion did not moderate the relationship between PTS symptom severity and voice-distress, it was associated with a significant reduction in voice-distress, at all levels of PTS symptom severity. Preliminary findings suggest self-compassion may play an important role in reducing voice-distress and thus warrant further consideration of self-compassion as a target in treatment for help-seeking voice-hearers.
Keywords: auditory verbal hallucinations; hearing voices; post-traumatic stress; self-compassion; trauma.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.