University students in the Czech Republic suffer from a low level of mental well-being. Research in other university student populations suggests that academic motivation, self-compassion, and self-criticism are strongly related to mental well-being. Students who are motivated to study, are kind toward themselves, and are less judgmental of themselves tend to have a high level of mental well-being. These relationships had not been evaluated in Czech students. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relationships between mental well-being, academic motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation), self-compassion (self-reassurance) and self-criticism (self-inadequacy and self-hate). Of 130 students approached, a convenience sampling of 119 psychology students at a university in the Czech Republic completed a survey regarding these constructs. Correlation, regression, and path analyses were conducted. Mental well-being was positively associated with intrinsic motivation and self-compassion, and negatively associated with amotivation and self-criticism. Self-compassion was identified as the strongest predictor of mental well-being. Lastly, intrinsic motivation mediated the pathway from self-compassion to mental well-being, but not the one from self-inadequacy to mental well-being, and the one from self-hate to mental well-being. Our findings can help educators to identify effective means to protect students' mental well-being. Cultivating students' self-compassion may be helpful to protect their mental well-being. University staff and educators in the Czech Republic need to consider ways to embed self-compassion training into their students' programmes or university life.

College of Health Psychology and Social Care University of Derby Derby DE22 1GB UK

Department of Psychology Masaryk University 602 00 Brno Czech Republic

School of Health Sciences University of Nottingham Nottingham NG7 2HA UK

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Vigo D., Thornicroft G., Atun R. Estimating the true global burden of mental illness. Lancet Psychiatry. 2016;3:171–178. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00505-2. PubMed DOI

Choudhry F.R., Mani V., Ming L., Khan T.M. Beliefs and perception about mental health issues: A meta-synthesis. Neuropsychiatr. Dis. Treat. 2016;12:2807–2818. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S111543. PubMed DOI PMC

Petrea I. Mental Health in Former Soviet Countries:From Past Legacies to Modern Practices. Public Health Rev. 2012;34:5. doi: 10.1007/BF03391673. DOI

Skultans V. The Appropriation of Suffering. Theory Cult. Soc. 2007;24:27–48. doi: 10.1177/0263276407077625. DOI

Kotera Y., Andrzejewski D., Dosedlova J., Taylor E., Edwards A.-M., Blackmore C. Mental Health of Czech University Psychology Students: Negative Mental Health Attitudes, Mental Health Shame and Self-Compassion. Healthcare. 2022;10:676. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10040676. PubMed DOI PMC

Kagstrom A., Alexova A., Tuskova E., Csajbók Z., Schomerus G., Formanek T., Mladá K., Winkler P., Cermakova P. The treatment gap for mental disorders and associated factors in the Czech Republic. Eur. Psychiatry. 2019;59:37–43. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.04.003. PubMed DOI

Doblytė S. Shame in a post-socialist society: A qualitative study of healthcare seeking and utilisation in common mental disorders. Sociol. Health Illn. 2020;42:1858–1872. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13170. PubMed DOI

Pec O. Mental health reforms in the Czech Republic. BJPsych Int. 2019;16:4–6. doi: 10.1192/bji.2017.27. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Dosedlova J., Andrzejewski D. From Stress to Psychopathology: Relationship with Self-Reassurance and Self-Criticism in Czech University Students. Int. J. Ment. Health Addict. 2022;20:2321–2332. doi: 10.1007/s11469-021-00516-z. PubMed DOI PMC

Pedrelli P., Nyer M., Yeung A., Zulauf C., Wilens T. College Students: Mental Health Problems and Treatment Considerations. Acad. Psychiatry. 2015;39:503–511. doi: 10.1007/s40596-014-0205-9. PubMed DOI PMC

Trnka R., Lorencova R. Fear, Anger, and Media-Induced Trauma During the Outbreak of COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. Psychol. Trauma: Theory Res. Pract. Policy. 2020;12:546–549. doi: 10.1037/tra0000675. PubMed DOI

Dosedlová J., Klimusová H., Burešová I. Health-related Behavior over the Course of Life in the Czech Republic. Procedia—Soc. Behav. Sci. 2016;217:1167–1175. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.02.137. DOI

Ryan R.M., Deci E.L. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. Am. Psychol. 2000;55:68–78. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68. PubMed DOI

Martela F., Riekki T.J.J. Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, and Beneficence: A Multicultural Comparison of the Four Pathways to Meaningful Work. Front. Psychol. 2018;9:1157. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01157. PubMed DOI PMC

Bailey T.H., Phillips L.J. The influence of motivation and adaptation on students’ subjective well-being, meaning in life and academic performance. High. Educ. Res. Dev. 2016;35:201–216. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2015.1087474. DOI

Legault L., Green-Demers I., Pelletier L. Why do high school students lack motivation in the classroom? Toward an understanding of academic amotivation and the role of social support. J. Educ. Psychol. 2006;98:567. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.98.3.567. DOI

Henrich J. The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. Penguin Random House; Dublin, Ireland: 2020. p. 680.

Liu X., Flick R. The relationship among psychological need satisfaction, class engagement, and academic performance: Evidence from China. J. Educ. Bus. 2019;94:408–417. doi: 10.1080/08832323.2018.1541855. DOI

Deci E.L., Ryan R.M., Gagné M., Leone D.R., Usunov J., Kornazheva B.P. Need Satisfaction, Motivation, and Well-Being in the Work Organizations of a Former Eastern Bloc Country: A Cross-Cultural Study of Self-Determination. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 2001;27:930–942. doi: 10.1177/0146167201278002. DOI

Kotera Y., Ting S.-H., Neary S. Mental health of Malaysian university students: UK comparison, and relationship between negative mental health attitudes, self-compassion, and resilience. High. Educ. 2021;81:403–419. doi: 10.1007/s10734-020-00547-w. DOI

Nalipay M.J.N., King R.B., Cai Y. Autonomy is equally important across East and West: Testing the cross-cultural universality of self-determination theory. J. Adolesc. 2020;78:67–72. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.12.009. PubMed DOI

Muthukrishna M., Bell A.V., Henrich J., Curtin C.M., Gedranovich A., McInerney J., Thue B. Beyond Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) Psychology: Measuring and Mapping Scales of Cultural and Psychological Distance. Psychol. Sci. 2020;31:678–701. doi: 10.1177/0956797620916782. PubMed DOI PMC

Zusho A., Clayton K. Culturalizing Achievement Goal Theory and Research. Educ. Psychol. 2011;46:239–260. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2011.614526. DOI

Tóth-Király I., Neff K.D. Is Self-Compassion Universal? Support for the Measurement Invariance of the Self-Compassion Scale Across Populations. Assessment. 2021;28:169–185. doi: 10.1177/1073191120926232. PubMed DOI

Zessin U., Dickhäuser O., Garbade S. The Relationship Between Self-Compassion and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Appl. Psychol. Health Well-Being. 2015;7:340–364. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12051. PubMed DOI

Kirby J.N., Tellegen C.L., Steindl S.R. A Meta-Analysis of Compassion-Based Interventions: Current State of Knowledge and Future Directions. Behav. Ther. 2017;48:778–792. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2017.06.003. PubMed DOI

Hermanto N., Zuroff D.C., Kopala-Sibley D.C., Kelly A.C., Matos M., Gilbert P., Koestner R. Ability to receive compassion from others buffers the depressogenic effect of self-criticism: A cross-cultural multi-study analysis. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2016;98:324–332. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.055. DOI

McIntyre R., Smith P., Rimes K.A. The role of self-criticism in common mental health difficulties in students: A systematic review of prospective studies. Ment. Health Prev. 2018;10:13–27. doi: 10.1016/j.mhp.2018.02.003. DOI

Gilbert P., Simos G. Compassion Focused Therapy: Clinical Practice and Applications. Routledge; London, UK: 2022.

Gilbert P. The Compassionate Mind: A New Approach to Life’s Challenges. New Harbinger Publications; Oakland, CA, USA: 2010. 592p

Gilbert P., Clarke M., Hempel S., Miles J.N.V., Irons C. Criticizing and reassuring oneself: An exploration of forms, styles and reasons in female students. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 2004;43:31–50. doi: 10.1348/014466504772812959. PubMed DOI

Kotera Y., Conway E., Van Gordon W. Ethical Judgement in UK Business Students: Relationship with Motivation, Self-Compassion and Mental Health. Int. J. Ment. Health Addict. 2019;17:1132–1146. doi: 10.1007/s11469-018-0034-2. DOI

Kotera Y., Green P., Sheffield D. Mental health of therapeutic students: Relationships with attitudes, self-criticism, self-compassion, and caregiver identity. Br. J. Guid. Couns. 2019;49:701–712. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2019.1704683. DOI

Kotera Y., Maughan G. Mental health of Irish students: Self-criticism as a complete mediator in mental health attitudes and caregiver identity. J. Concurr. Disord. 2020;1:14–26. doi: 10.54127/BHNM9453. DOI

Kotera Y., Gilbert P., Asano K., Ishimura I., Sheffield D. Self-criticism and self-reassurance as mediators between mental health attitudes and symptoms: Attitudes toward mental health problems in Japanese workers. Asian J. Soc. Psychol. 2019;22:183–192. doi: 10.1111/ajsp.12355. DOI

Shahar G., Henrich C.C., Blatt S.J., Ryan R., Little T.D. Interpersonal relatedness, self-definition, and their motivational orientation during adolescence: A theorical and empirical integration. Dev. Psychol. 2003;39:470–483. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.39.3.470. PubMed DOI

Shahar G., Kalnitzki E., Shulman S., Blatt S.J. Personality, motivation, and the construction of goals during the transition to adulthood. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2006;40:53–63. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.06.016. DOI

Zuroff D.C., Koestner R., Moskowitz D.S., McBride C., Bagby R.M. Therapist’s Autonomy Support and Patient’s Self-Criticism Predict Motivation during Brief Treatments for Depression. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 2012;31:903–932. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2012.31.9.903. DOI

Powers T.A., Koestner R., Zuroff D.C. Self–Criticism, Goal Motivation, and Goal Progress. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 2007;26:826–840. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2007.26.7.826. DOI

Gilbert P. The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 2014;53:6–41. doi: 10.1111/bjc.12043. PubMed DOI

Kotera Y. De-stigmatising self-care: Impact of self-care webinar during COVID-19. Int. J. Spa Wellness. 2021;4:213–217. doi: 10.1080/24721735.2021.1892324. DOI

Irons C., Gilbert P., Baldwin M.W., Baccus J.R., Palmer M. Parental recall, attachment relating and self-attacking/self-reassurance: Their relationship with depression. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 2006;45:297–308. doi: 10.1348/014466505X68230. PubMed DOI

Leak G.K., Cooney R.R. Self-determination, attachment styles, and well-being in adult romantic relationships. Represent. Res. Soc. Psychol. 2001;25:55–62.

Kotera Y., Ting S.H. Positive Psychology of Malaysian University Students: Impacts of Engagement, Motivation, Self-Compassion, and Well-being on Mental Health. Int. J. Ment. Health Addict. 2019;20:1611–1626. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00466-y. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Tsuda-McCaie F., Maughan G., Green P. Cross-cultural comparison of mental health in social work students between UK and Ireland: Mental health shame and self-compassion. Br. J. Soc. Work. 2021;52:3247–3267. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab240. DOI

Kotera Y., Lieu J., Kirkman A., Barnes K., Liu G.H.T., Jackson J., Wilkes J., Riswani R. Mental Wellbeing of Indonesian Students: Mean Comparison with UK Students and Relationships with Self-Compassion and Academic Engagement. Healthcare. 2022;10:1439. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10081439. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Taylor E., Fido D., Williams D., Tsuda-Mccaie F. Motivation of UK graduate students in education: Self-compassion moderates pathway from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. Curr. Psychol. 2021 doi: 10.1007/s12144-021-02301-6. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Young H., Maybury S., Aledeh M. Mediation of Self-Compassion on Pathways from Stress to Psychopathologies among Japanese Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2022;19:12423. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912423. PubMed DOI PMC

Dundas I., Binder P.E., Hansen T.G.B., Stige S.H. Does a short self-compassion intervention for students increase healthy self-regulation? A randomized control trial. Scand. J. Psychol. 2017;58:443–450. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12385. PubMed DOI

Czech Ministry of Education . University Students by Groups Of Fields and Sex in 2018 [Studenti Vysokých Škol Podle Skupin Oborů a Pohlaví v Roce 2018] Czech Ministry of Education; Prague, Czech Republic: 2019.

Cohen J. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. L. Erlbaum Associates; Mahwah, NJ, USA: 1988. 567p

Faul F., Erdfelder E., Buchner A., Lang A.-G. Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav. Res. Methods. 2009;41:1149–1160. doi: 10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149. PubMed DOI

Vallerand R.J., Pelletier L.G., Blais M.R., Briere N.M., Senecal C., Vallieres E.F. The academic motivation scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educ. Psychol. Meas. 1992;52:1003–1017. doi: 10.1177/0013164492052004025. DOI

Stewart-Brown S., Tennant A., Tennant R., Platt S., Parkinson J., Weich S. Internal construct validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): A Rasch analysis using data from the Scottish Health Education Population Survey. Health Qual. Life Outcomes. 2009;7:15. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-7-15. PubMed DOI PMC

Stewart-Brown S., Janmohamed K. Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) User Guide Version 1. Warwick Medical School; Coventry, UK: 2008.

Kotera Y., Green P., Sheffield D. Positive Psychology for Mental Wellbeing of UK Therapeutic Students: Relationships with Engagement, Motivation, Resilience and Self-Compassion. Int. J. Ment. Health Addict. 2021;20:337–361. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00363-4. PubMed DOI PMC

Hayes A.F. Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. Guilford Press; New York, NY, USA: 2013. 507p

Kotera Y., Mayer C.H., Vanderheiden E. Cross-Cultural Comparison of Mental Health Between German and South African Employees: Shame, Self-Compassion, Work Engagement, and Work Motivation. Front. Psychol. 2021;12:627851. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.627851. PubMed DOI PMC

Ehret A.M., Joormann J., Berking M. Examining risk and resilience factors for depression: The role of self-criticism and self-compassion. Cogn. Emot. 2015;29:1496–1504. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2014.992394. PubMed DOI

Neely M.E., Schallert D.L., Mohammed S.S., Roberts R.M., Chen Y.-J. Self-kindness when facing stress: The role of self-compassion, goal regulation, and support in college students’ well-being. Motiv. Emot. 2009;33:88–97. doi: 10.1007/s11031-008-9119-8. DOI

Kotera Y., Van Gordon W. Effects of Self-Compassion Training on Work-Related Well-Being: A Systematic Review. Front. Psychol. 2021;12:630798. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.630798. PubMed DOI PMC

Neff K.D., Germer C.K. A Pilot Study and Randomized Controlled Trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program. J. Clin. Psychol. 2013;69:28–44. doi: 10.1002/jclp.21923. PubMed DOI

Shapira L.B., Mongrain M. The benefits of self-compassion and optimism exercises for individuals vulnerable to depression. J. Posit. Psychol. 2010;5:377–389. doi: 10.1080/17439760.2010.516763. DOI

Smeets E., Neff K., Alberts H., Peters M. Meeting suffering with kindness: Effects of a brief self-compassion intervention for female college students. J. Clin. Psychol. 2014;70:794–807. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22076. PubMed DOI

Christopher J.C., Maris J.A. Integrating mindfulness as self-care into counselling and psychotherapy training. Couns. Psychother. Res. 2010;10:114–125. doi: 10.1080/14733141003750285. DOI

Kotera Y., Ozaki A., Miyatake H., Tsunetoshi C., Nishikawa Y., Kosaka M., Tanimoto T. Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2022;19:568. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010568. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Cockerill V., Chircop J.G.E., Forman D. Mental health shame, self-compassion and sleep in UK nursing students: Complete mediation of self-compassion in sleep and mental health. Nurs. Open. 2020;8:1325–1335. doi: 10.1002/nop2.749. PubMed DOI PMC

Kotera Y., Green P., Sheffield D. Mental Health Shame of UK Construction Workers: Relationship with Masculinity, Work Motivation, and Self-Compassion. J. Work Organ. Psychol. 2019;35:135–143. doi: 10.5093/jwop2019a15. DOI

Kotera Y., Conway E., Van Gordon W. Mental health of UK university business students: Relationship with shame, motivation and self-compassion. J. Educ. Bus. 2018;94:11–20. doi: 10.1080/08832323.2018.1496898. DOI

Kotera Y., Rhodes C. Pathways to Sex Addiction: Relationships with Adverse Childhood Experience, Attachment, Narcissism, Self-Compassion and Motivation in a Gender-Balanced Sample. Sex. Addict. Compulsivity. 2019;26:54–76. doi: 10.1080/10720162.2019.1615585. DOI

Kotera Y., Asano K., Kotera H., Ohshima R., Rushforth A. Mental Health of Japanese Workers: Amotivation Mediates Self-Compassion on Mental Health Problems. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2022;19:10497. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710497. PubMed DOI PMC

Clarke F.J., Kotera Y., McEwan K. A Qualitative Study Comparing Mindfulness and Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing): Practitioners’ Perspectives. Sustainability. 2021;13:6761. doi: 10.3390/su13126761. DOI

Kotera Y., Sweet M. Comparative evaluation of neuro-linguistic programming. Br. J. Guid. Couns. 2019;47:744–756. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2019.1622075. DOI

Kotera Y., Fido D. Effects of Shinrin-Yoku Retreat on Mental Health: A Pilot Study in Fukushima, Japan. Int. J. Ment. Health Addict. 2022;20:2652–2664. doi: 10.1007/s11469-021-00538-7. DOI

McEwan K., Giles D., Clarke F.J., Kotera Y., Evans G., Terebenina O., Minou L., Teeling C., Basran J., Wood W., et al. A Pragmatic Controlled Trial of Forest Bathing Compared with Compassionate Mind Training in the UK: Impacts on Self-Reported Wellbeing and Heart Rate Variability. Sustainability. 2021;13:1380. doi: 10.3390/su13031380. DOI

Deci E.L., Flaste R. Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation. Penguins Books; London, UK: 1996. p. 230.

Shahar G., Soffer N., Gilboa-Shechtman E. Sociotropy, autonomy, and self-criticism are three distinguishable dimensions of cognitive-personality vulnerability. J. Cogn. Psychother. 2008;22:219–227. doi: 10.1891/0889-8391.22.3.219. DOI

Gilbert P., Procter S. Compassionate Mind Training for People with High Shame and Self-Criticism: Overview and Pilot Study of a Group Therapy Approach. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. 2006;13:353–379. doi: 10.1002/cpp.507. DOI

Kotera Y., Conway E., Green P. Construction And factorial validation of a short version of the Academic Motivation Scale. Br. J. Guid. Couns. 2021:1–10. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2021.1903387. DOI

Sommers-Spijkerman M., Trompetter H., ten Klooster P., Schreurs K., Gilbert P., Bohlmeijer E. Development and validation of the forms of Self-Criticizing/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale—Short Form. Psychol. Assess. 2018;30:729–743. doi: 10.1037/pas0000514. PubMed DOI

Technostress and academic motivation: direct and indirect effects on university students' psychological health