Exploring compassionate attributes and skills among individuals participating in compassion‐focused therapy for enhancing well‐being (original) (raw)
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The Effectiveness of a Pilot Self-Compassion Program on Well Being Components
Psychology, 2017
Self-compassion is a newly developed construct in the field of positive psychology while a plethora of studies highlighted its beneficial outcomes on people's psychological prosperity. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a self-compassion training program on self-compassion, positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction and subjective happiness as well as to contribute to knowledge by investigating whether changes in self-compassion can significantly predict changes in aspects of well being. A sample of 74 students of Social Sciences is randomly assigned to either the intervention (N = 33) or a control group (N = 41). The intervention group participated in a psycho-educational training program aiming to teach them how to be more self-compassionate in challenging situations whilst the control group received no training. The results showed that the intervention group experienced increases in self-compassion, positive affect, life satisfaction as well as subjective happiness and decreases in negative affect, depression, anxiety and stress scores, compared to the control group which reported no changes. These findings suggest the vital role self-compassion plays on psychological well-being and the effectiveness of focused intervention programs. Other possible implications and recommendations for future research are also considered.
Enhancing Compassion: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Compassion Cultivation Training Program
Journal of Happiness Studies, 2013
Abstract Psychosocial interventions often aim to alleviate negative emotional states. However, there is growing interest in cultivating positive emotional states and qualities. One particular target is compassion, but it is not yet clear whether compassion can be trained. A community sample of 100 adults were randomly assigned to a 9-week compassion cultivation training (CCT) program (n= 60) or a waitlist control condition (n= 40). Before and after this 9-week period, participants completed self-report inventories that measured ...
2013
Psychosocial interventions often aim to alleviate negative emotional states. However, there is growing interest in cultivating positive emotional states and qualities. One particular target is compassion, but it is not yet clear whether compassion can be trained. A community sample of 100 adults were randomly assigned to a 9-week compassion cultivation training (CCT) program (n = 60) or a waitlist control condition (n = 40). Before and after this 9-week period, participants completed self-report inventories that measured compassion for others, receiving compassion from others, and selfcompassion. Compared to the waitlist control condition, CCT resulted in significant improvements in all three domains of compassion-compassion for others, receiving compassion from others, and self-compassion. The amount of formal meditation practiced during CCT was associated with increased compassion for others. Specific domains of compassion can be intentionally cultivated in a training program. These findings may have important implications for mental health and well-being.
Effect of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) on level of Depression and Self- compassion
Indian Journal of Mental Health
Background and Objectives: Depression conceptualizes variety of psychic and somatic syndromes and known as the 'common cold' of mental illness. Compassion Focused Therapy pays particular attention to the ability to generate affiliative motives, behaviors and emotions. Focusing on the experience and development of compassion has been found to reduce depression and self-criticism. The main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Compassion Focused Therapy on level of depression and self-compassion among patients with depression at selected hospitals of Indore. Methods: A Quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test control group design was adopted. The population consisted of 12 patients with depression, those who were on antidepressants, were selected through nonprobability purposive sampling, then assigned 6 in each experimental and control group. Beck's Depression Inventory II and Neff's self-compassion scale were used for assessment of level of depression and selfcompassion. Compassion Focused Therapy was administered on experimental group for 15 days, followed by post-test and one month follow up. Control group was only on pharmacotherapy. The effect of compassion focused therapy computed by paired t-test. Results: The mean score of level of depression in experimental group was 25.83 which had cut-down to 14.17 at post-test and 10.33 at one month follow up. Similarly mean pre-test score of level of selfcompassion in experimental patients was 2.54 which increased to 3.52 at post-test and 3.69 at one month follow up. Conclusion: The major finding of the study reveals that Compassion Focused Therapy found efficient in reducing the level of depression and improving self-compassion.
Psychology, 2017
Self-compassion (Neff, 2003b) is a newly developed construct of positive psychology while a plethora of studies has highlighted its beneficial outcomes on people's psychological prosperity. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a brief self-compassion training program on self-compassion, life satisfaction and positive and negative affect as well as to contribute new knowledge by investigating whether changes in self-compassion can significantly predict changes in positive affect. A sample of 42 students of Social Sciences, randomly assigned to either the intervention (N = 20) or the control group (N = 22) group where the first group participated in a psycho-educational training program aiming to train them to be more self-compassionate in challenging situations whilst the control group received no training. The results that revealed through the three different questionnaires (Self-Compassion Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale and Positive and Negative Affect Scale) that both groups completed before and after the completion of the program, showed that the intervention group indeed indicated increases in self-compassion, life satisfaction as well as positive affect scores and decrease in negative affect scores, compared to the control group which reported no changes. Furthermore, participants' increases in self-compassion levels strongly predicted increases in positive affect levels, meaning that those who are high self-compassionate have also high positive affect. These findings suggest the importance of selfcompassion on psychological well-being, testing through the implementation of specific intervention programs. Other possible implications and recommendations for future research are also considered.
Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 2010
Objectives. The objectiveofthis study was to explore the meaning and experiences of compassion and self-compassion for individuals with depression and anxiety. Design. An interpretative phenomenological analysis(IPA) epistemology and methodologyw erea dopted as the study was focused on understanding the meaning and experiences of participants towards self-compassion from existing theory. Methods. Te nparticipants wereselected based on a Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders ,4th ed.-text revision diagnosis of depression or an anxiety disorder. Individuals weree xcluded from this study if they had additional diagnoses which impacted significantly on their disorder or on ethical grounds if participation was seen as psychologically distressing. Participants completed as emi-structured intervieww ith questions were based on existing self-compassion research. Interviewsl asted an hour and were analysed using IPAm ethodology. Results. Participants' reflections suggested that they sawc ompassion having two central qualities: kindness and action. Participants reported that they thought having compassion for themselves felt meaningful in relation to their experiences and useful in helping with their depression or anxiety.H owever, participants reflected that they felt being self-compassionate would be difficult either because the concept itself felt challenging to enact or their experience of psychological disorder had negatively impacted on their ability to be self-compassionate. Conclusions. Participants' positiveperceptions of self-compassion offer encouragement to clinicians as it appears people can connect with the concept meaningfully as wellasseeing it as being useful. Clinicians focusing on self-compassion maygain greater efficacy when they incorporate both aspects within interventions. Findings about the difficulties associated with self-compassion provide valuable information as to why people find it difficult to adopt which can be used in the development of future clinical interventions.
Frontiers in Psychology
Objective: The working mechanisms of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) remain understudied. Drawing on the theoretical model underlying CFT, we examined four putative working mechanisms-self-reassurance, self-criticism, positive/negative affect-in relation to changes in well-being and psychological distress. Methods: Data of a waitlist randomised controlled trial (N = 242) investigating the effectiveness of a self-help CFT-intervention in a non-clinical sample were analysed. Using single and multiple mediation models, we assessed if changes in self-reassurance, self-criticism and positive/negative affect during the intervention (3-month interval) mediated changes in well-being and depressive/anxiety symptoms from baseline to follow-up (6-month interval) compared to the waitlist condition. Results: For each outcome, single analyses revealed that the effects of CFT were significantly mediated by self-reassurance and self-criticism. The mediating role of affect differed across outcomes. In combined models, self-reassurance emerged as a significant mediator for well-being and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, positive and negative affect were found significant mediators of the effects on depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary empirical evidence that CFT operates through cultivating self-reassurance, reducing self-criticism and regulating positive and negative affect in a non-clinical sample. To advance the development of CFT, further exploration of therapeutic change processes and their interplay is needed.
Self-Compassion Interventions and Psychosocial Outcomes: a Meta-Analysis of RCTs
Mindfulness, 2019
Objectives Self-compassion is a healthy way of relating to one's self motivated by a desire to help rather than harm. Novel selfcompassion-based interventions have targeted diverse populations and outcomes. This meta-analysis identified randomized controlled trials of self-compassion interventions and measured their effects on psychosocial outcomes. Methods This meta-analysis included a systematic search of six databases and hand-searches of the included study's reference lists. Twenty-seven randomized controlled trials that examined validated psychosocial measures for self-compassion-based interventions met inclusion criteria. Baseline, post and follow-up data was extracted for the intervention and control groups, and study quality was assessed using the PRISMA checklist. Results Self-compassion interventions led to a significant improvement across 11 diverse psychosocial outcomes compared with controls. Notably, the aggregate effect size Hedge's g was large for measures of eating behavior (g = 1.76) and rumination (g = 1.37). Effects were moderate for self-compassion (g = 0.75), stress (g = 0.67), depression (g = 0.66), mindfulness (g = 0.62), selfcriticism (g = 0.56), and anxiety (g = 0.57) outcomes. Further moderation analyses found that the improvements in depression symptoms continued to increase at follow-up, and self-compassion gains were maintained. Results differed across population type and were stronger for the group over individual delivery methods. Intervention type was too diverse to analyze specific categories, and publication bias may be present. Conclusions This review supports the efficacy of self-compassion-based interventions across a range of outcomes and diverse populations. Future research should consider the mechanisms of change.