Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS)

Mindful self-care practices are pathways to embodied wellbeing, and the development of the Mindful Self-Care Scale (MSCS) is a critical step toward refining the concept of self-care and advancing the scientific understanding of the role of self-care. This chapter reviews the construct of mindful self-care, theory related to and development of the MSCS, guidelines for using the MSCS clinically and in research settings, and the growing body of research conducted using the MSCS. The MSCS items are a set of actionable practices that span 6 subscales: physical care, supportive relationships, mindful awareness, self-compassion and purpose, mindful relaxation, and supportive structure. Since being published in 2018, several studies have furthered the evidence base of the MSCS as a robust measure of mindful self-care with meaningful external validity findings (for example, related to wellbeing, quality of life, and burnout) as well as strong psychometric data, including in translated versions. In conclusion, the MSCS is a robust assessment tool that can be used in clinical practice and research to further our understanding of mindful self-care and its crucial role in embodied wellbeing.