Anxiety symptoms is prevalent among college students and is associated with a range of detrimental consequences. Self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulties are important factors affecting anxiety symptoms, but their functional mechanism and longitudinal correlation are still unclear. This three-year longitudinal study (baseline: n = 5785, 48.2% of female, M_age = 18.63 years, SD = 0.88; T₁ to T₅: n = range from 4312 to 5497) aimed to validate the emotion regulation model of self-compassion by examining the associations between self-compassion, emotion regulation difficulties, and anxiety symptoms. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) was used to distinguish within-person variations overtime from stable between-person differences. The results obtained from the RI-CLPMs indicated that there is a bidirectional effect between self-compassion and anxiety symptoms at the within-person level. Emotional regulation difficulties played a longitudinal mediating role in the prediction from self-compassion to anxiety symptoms at the within-person level, validating the emotion regulation model of self-compassion. The current study indicates that cultivating self-compassion in college students is crucial as it can improve their emotion regulation skills and alleviate anxiety symptoms.

焦虑症状在大学生中很普遍，并与一系列有害后果有关。自我同情和情绪调节困难是影响焦虑症状的重要因素，但其功能机制和纵向相关性尚不清楚。这项为期三年的纵向研究（基线：n = 5785，女性的 48.2%，M_年龄 = 18.63 岁，SD = 0.88;T₁ 到 T₅：n = 范围从 4312 到 5497）旨在通过检查自我同情、情绪调节困难和焦虑症状之间的关联来验证自我同情的情绪调节模型。随机截距交叉滞后面板模型 （RI-CLPM） 用于区分人内随时间的变化与稳定的人际差异。从 RI-CLPM 获得的结果表明，在人内层面，自我同情和焦虑症状之间存在双向效应。情绪调节困难在人内层面从自我同情到焦虑症状的预测中起了纵向中介作用，验证了自我同情的情绪调节模型。目前的研究表明，培养大学生的自我同情心至关重要，因为它可以提高他们的情绪调节能力并缓解焦虑症状。