Brief Description
The Self-Compassion Scale Youth Version (SCS-Y) is a 17-item assessment designed to measure self-compassion in early adolescents, particularly those in middle school. It evaluates six key components of self-compassion: self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification. The scale prompts respondents to reflect on their thoughts and feelings in challenging situations (e.g., “I try to be kind and supportive to myself when I’m having a hard time"). Items are answered on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 ("Almost Never") to 5 ("Almost Always"). The SCS-Y is best used to understand a young individual's level of self-compassion, making it a valuable tool for research and interventions focused on youth mental health. Research has found SCS-Y scores to be significantly associated with mindfulness, happiness, life satisfaction, depression, resilience, and achievement goal orientation in expected directions.
Assessment Administration Type
Child/Adolescent Self-Report
Number of questions
17
Age Range for Administration
10-14
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No recommended standard frequency; Blueprint recommends monthly.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
Items on the SCS-Y are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("Almost Never") to 5 ("Almost Always"). Items 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 are reverse scored. The total self-compassion score is found by summing the responses for each item. The total range of scores is 17 to 85, with higher scores indicating higher rates of self-compassion.
After finding the total self-compassion score, the mean of each subscale is calculated. Items are divided into subscales as follows:
Self-Kindness: 1, 9, 15
Self-Judgment: 3, 7, 12
Common Humanity: 4, 8, 13
Isolation: 2, 10, 16
Mindfulness: 6, 11, 17
Over-identification: 5, 14
The total mean score is then obtained by averaging the means of these subscales.
the mean for each of the six subscales—self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification—is calculated.
Although there are no established clinical cutoff points, mean scores are generally interpreted as following:
Scores | Interpretation |
1.0-2.49 | Low self-compassion |
2.5-3.5 | Moderate self-compassion |
3.51-5.0 | High self-compassion |
Blueprint Adjustments
N/A
Clinical Considerations
Estimated time to complete: 4-6 minutes.
Tools that measure self-compassion in adults, including the Self Compassion Scale-SF and State Self-Compassion Scale, are also available on Blueprint.
Citation
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