Resilience and Mental Health among Incarcerated Women: The Mediating Role of Self-Acceptance

Abstract

Objective: Incarcerated women are a high-risk population for mental health disorders, but the psychological resources that stabilize their well-being have not yet been adequately explored in Southeast Asian correctional settings. This study explored the association between resilience and incarcerated females' mental health and assessed if self-acceptance mediates the relationship of these constructs.
Material and Methods: Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey design grounded both in Wagnild and Young’s conceptualisation of resilience and the self-acceptance principle of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. By using systematic probability sampling, data were collected from incarcerated women at Kajang Women's Prison, Malaysia, the largest female correctional facility in the country. Resilience was measured by using the Resilience Scale, self-acceptance with the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire and mental health measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21. Data were processed and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method and bootstrapping.
Result: The measurement model was found to be adequate in its reliability and validity (Cronbach's alpha =.727–.915; composite reliability =.732–.971; AVE=.714–.855). The structural model showed that resilience strongly predicted both self-acceptance (β = .126, p = .007) and mental health (β = .206, p < .001), thus proving H1 and H2. However, self-acceptance did not significantly predict mental health (β= .063, p= .142). And resilience's indirect effect on mental health through self-acceptance was (β= .008, p= .390) unsupportive for H3 and H4, respectively.
Conclusion: These results show that resilience has a direct, not self-acceptance-mediated effect on mental health among incarcerated women, with implications for targeted resilience-specific interventions in correctional facilities.