Disentangling the relationship between state self‐compassion and state coping self‐efficacy using dynamic structural equation modeling

Abstract The cross‐sectional association between self‐compassion and coping self‐efficacy has been well documented, but little is known about the extent to which self‐compassion or coping self‐efficacy persists in daily life. This study used dynamic structural equation modeling to explore the temporal relationship between self‐compassion and coping self‐efficacy through a daily diary study. Participants ( N = 240, M age = 18.98 ± 0.99 years, 44.8% female) completed 14 consecutive daily diaries on self‐compassion and coping self‐efficacy (for a total of 3219 observations). We found that self‐compassion and coping self‐efficacy demonstrated stability through autocorrelations. Self‐compassion was a significant predictor of subsequent coping self‐efficacy, and coping self‐efficacy was a significant predictor of subsequent self‐compassion. These findings suggest that there has been a virtuous cycle between state coping self‐efficacy and state self‐compassion.