ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scale for Youths: Psychometric properties in a Clinical Psychiatric Swedish sample
Provisionally accepted
- 1Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- 2Marie Cederschiold hogskola - Campus Ersta, Stockholm, Sweden
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Abstract Background: Compassion contributes to well-being and serves as a protective factor against mental health problems in young people. The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scale for Youth – Swedish version (CEASY-SE) is a self-report questionnaire that assesses compassion across six competencies, organized into three scales: Self-Compassion, Compassion for Others, and Compassion from Others. While previously validated in a Swedish school sample, its applicability in clinical psychiatric populations remains unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of CEASY-SE in a clinical psychiatric sample of Swedish youth aged 16-22. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, collecting self-reported data from young people (N = 355) receiving care in child and adolescent psychiatry and primary care. We assessed the CEASY-SE´s factor structure, reliability, and validity (internal consistency, convergent, divergent, construct, and criterion-related validity). Sex and age differences were also analyzed, along with comparisons of total scores across diagnostic groups. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model within each of the three scales. Internal consistency was good to excellent across all scales (α ranging from .75 to .92), except for the Self-Compassion Engagement subscale among males (α = .62; ω = .60). Convergent and divergent validity were satisfactory. Among the three CEASY-SE scales, Self-Compassion showed the strongest correlations with mental health outcomes. Sex differences primarily affected Compassion for Others, and a sex-by-age interaction was found for both Compassion for Others and Self-Compassion. A total score of 40 was associated with an 8.41-fold increase in the predicted probability of depression symptoms compared to a score of 100. The lowest scores were found among patients with eating disorders and depression. Conclusions: The CEASY-SE demonstrates acceptable to excellent psychometric properties in a clinical psychiatric sample of youth. It is a promising tool for clinicians and researchers to assess and promote compassion in young people, with potential relevance for interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes.
Keywords: Compassion1, Psycometrics2, Reliability3, validity4, confirmatory factor analysis5, Clinical youth sample6
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wallin, Svedin, Wiberg and Dennhag. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Linda Wallin
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