Self-compassion, Mindfulness, Stress, and Self-esteem Among Vietnamese University Students: Psychological Well-being and Positive Emotion as Mediators

Minh Anh Quang Tran; Tan Vo-Thanh; Mohammad Soliman; Bassam Khoury; Nguyen Ngoc Thao Chau

doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01980-x

Self-compassion, Mindfulness, Stress, and Self-esteem Among Vietnamese University Students: Psychological Well-being and Positive Emotion as Mediators

Mindfulness (N Y). 2022;13(10):2574-2586. doi: 10.1007/s12671-022-01980-x. Epub 2022 Sep 15.

Authors

Minh Anh Quang Tran¹, Tan Vo-Thanh², Mohammad Soliman^{3

4}, Bassam Khoury⁵, Nguyen Ngoc Thao Chau^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
² Tourism Department, Economics - Management Faculty, Dong Nai Technology University, Bien Hoa, Vietnam.
³ University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Salalah, Oman.
⁴ Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2 Canada.
⁶ University of Economics and Law, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁷ Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Abstract

Objectives: Theory and prior research suggest that improving self-esteem is a promising way to improve students' academic performance and mental health. This study empirically examines the mediating effect of psychological well-being and positive emotion in the relationships between self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem.

Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed. Quantitative data collected through a two-wave survey from 654 Vietnamese students were analyzed to test the hypotheses using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0. Data from 19 in-depth interviews were used to explain the quantitative findings and explore students' experiences in practicing mindfulness and self-compassion.

Results: Findings revealed that psychological well-being and positive emotion fully mediated the relationships between self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem.

Conclusions: Results of this study highlight the importance of psychological well-being and positive emotion in the self-compassion, mindfulness, stress, and self-esteem relationship, as well as explain a possible process by which factors help university students achieve and sustain a sense of high self-esteem. Ultimately, this study has identified several potential targets for intervention strategies in mental health, such as mindfulness and self-compassion among university students.

Keywords: Mindfulness; Positive emotion; Psychological well-being; Self-compassion; Self-esteem; Stress.

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