Introduction
Self-compassion is a well-established emotion regulation strategy in coping with negative emotions, but the neural mechanisms underlying the association between self-compassion and negative affect remains unknown. Because amygdala plays important role in negative affect, we investigated the amygdala-based resting-state function connectivity (RSFC) correlates of dispositional self-compassion and their associations with negative affect.

Methods&Results
A total of 138 healthy adolescents (mean age = 21.94, SD = 2.95) participated. Self-compassion was assessed using the Self-Compassion Scale, and negative affect with the PANAS . The results showed that self-compassion was negatively correlated with negative affect (r = 0.349, p < 0.001). Neuroimaging analysis revealed that self-compassion was associated with reduced RSFC in the amygdala, with significant clusters in several brain regions, including the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes. Partial correlation analysis identified specific self-compassion components (e.g., isolation, over-identification, self-judgment, self-kindness) linked to RSFC in the amygdala. Furthermore, the right amygdala-superior/inferior parietal lobule (SPL/IPL) RSFC exclusively mediated the relationship between self-compassion and negative affect, which was mainly driven by less over-identification with negative emotions.

Discussion
The results suggest that a broad neural network is associated with self-compassion, but the right amygdala-SPL/IPL functional connectivity is distinct in supporting the association between self-compassion and negative affect.

self-compassion, amygdala, resting-state functional connectivity, negative affect, superior parietal lobule, inferior parietal lobule