Background: Studies of the value of compassion on physical and mental health and social relationships have proliferated in the last 25 years. Although, there are several conceptualisations and measures of compassion, this study develops three new measures of compassion competencies derived from an evolutionary, motivational approach. The scales assess 1. the compassion we experience for others, 2. the compassion we experience from others, and 3. self-compassion based on a standard definition of compassion as a 'sensitivity to suffering in self and others with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it'. We explored these in relationship to other compassion scales, self-criticism, depression, anxiety, stress and well-being. Methods: Participants from three different countries (UK, Portugal and USA) completed a range of scales including compassion for others, self-compassion, self-criticism, shame, depression, anxiety and stress with the newly developed 'The Compassionate Engagement and Actions' scale.

Background: Job stress and burnout are common among healthcare professionals, and nurses in particular. In addition to the heavy workload and lack of recourses, nurses are also confronted with emotionally intense situations associated with illness and suffering, which require empathic abilities. Although empathy is one of the core values in nursing, if not properly balanced it can also have detrimental consequences, such as compassion fatigue. Self-compassion, on the other hand, has been shown to be a protective factor for a wide range of well-being indicators and has been associated with compassion for others.Objectives: The main goal of this study was to explore how empathy and selfcompassion related to professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout). In addition, we wanted to test whether self-compassion may be a protective factor for the impact of empathy on compassion fatigue.Methods and Participants: Using a cross-sectional design, 280 registered nurses from public hospitals in Portugal's north and center region were surveyed. Professional quality of life (Professional Quality Of Life), empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and self-compassion (Self-compassion Scale) were measured using validated self-report measures.Results: Correlations and regression analyses showed that empathy and self-compassion predicted the three aspects of professional quality of life. Empathic concern was positively associated with compassion satisfaction as well as with compassion fatigue.Mediation models suggested that the negative components of self-compassion explain some of these effects, and self-kindness and common humanity were significant moderators. The same results were found for the association between personal distress and compassion fatigue. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 3 Conclusions: High levels of affective empathy may be a risk factor for compassion fatigue, whereas self-compassion might be protective. Teaching self-compassion and self-care skills may be an important feature in interventions that aim to reduce burnout and compassion fatigue.Keywords: empathy; compassion fatigue; nurses; professional quality of life; selfcompassion . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 4 Introduction Empathy is a central aspect of healthcare, and has been associated with positive outcomes not only for the patient (e.g., Rakel et al., 2011;Hojat, Louis, & Markham, 2011;Blatt, LeLacheur, Galinsky, Simmens, & Greenberg, 2010) but also for the healthcare professional (Thomas et al., 2007; Shanafel et al., 2005).However, given the constant exposure to highly d...

A two-factor structure of SCS with strong psychometric validity was supported in clinical and non-clinical samples. Helping individuals with limited experiences of compassion to develop positive internal processing systems seems to be related with better mental health, self-acceptance and self-nurturing abilities. The non-probabilistic sampling limits the generalization of our conclusions.

The development of the compassionate self, associated with practices such as slow and deeper breathing, compassionate voice tones and facial expressions and compassionate focusing is central to Compassion Focused Therapy. This study explores the impact of a two-week Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) program on emotional, self-evaluative and psychopathology measures and on heart rate variability (HRV). Participants (general population and college students) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: CMT (n=56) and Wait-List Control (n=37). Participants in the CMTcondition were instructed to practice CMT exercises during two weeks. Self-report measures of compassion, positive affect, fears of compassion, self-criticism, shame, depression, anxiety and stress, and HRV were collected at pre and post intervention in both conditions. Compared to the control group, the experimental group showed significant increases in positive emotions, associated with feeling relaxed and also safe and content, but not activated; and in selfcompassion, compassion for others and compassion from others. There were significant reductions in shame, self-criticism, fears of compassion, and stress. Only the experimental group reported significant improvement in HRV. Developing awareness of the evolved nature and inherent difficulties of our minds allied with practicing CMT exercises has beneficial effects on participants' psychological and physiological well-being.

This study provides preliminary evidence that mindfulness-based interventions may be efficacious in reducing oncology nurses' psychological symptoms and improving their overall well-being, and thus may be worthy of further study in this population.

Background: This study explores the premise that shame episodes can have the properties of traumatic memories, involving intrusions, flashbacks, strong emotional avoidance, hyper arousal, fragmented states of mind, and dissociation. Method: A battery of self-report questionnaires was used to assess shame, shame traumatic memory and depression in 811 participants from general population (481 undergraduate students and 330 subjects from normal population). Results:Results show that early shame experiences do indeed reveal traumatic memory characteristics.Moreover, these experiences are associated with current feelings of internal and external shame in adulthood. We also found that current shame and depression are significantly related. Key to our findings is that those individuals whose shame memories display more traumatic characteristics show more depressive symptoms. A moderator analysis suggested an effect of shame traumatic memory on the relationship between shame and depression. Limitations: The transversal nature of our study design, the use of self-reports questionnaires, the possibility of selective memories in participants' retrospective reports and the use of a general community sample, are some methodological limitations that should be considered in our investigation. Conclusion:Our study presents novel perspectives on the nature of shame and its relation to psychopathology, empirically supporting the proposal that shame memories have traumatic memory characteristics, that not only affect shame in adulthood but also seem to moderate the impact of shame on depression. Therefore, these considerations emphasize the importance of assessing and intervening on shame memories in a therapeutic context. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 IntroductionShame Shame can be a social event (e.g., being judged and shamed in the eyes of others) or a private feeling linked to our own person judgements of our feelings, fantasises abilities and characteristics. Shame can guide our behaviour, influence our feelings about ourselves, shape a sense of our self-identity and feelings about our social acceptability and desirability (Gilbert 1998; Tangney & Dearing, 2002). This rich and powerful human emotion has a crucial influence on several aspects of psychological functioning, such as cognition, behaviour, emotion, sense of self or physiology, operating at the individual, interpersonal, group and cultural levels throughout our life (Gilbert, 1998; Kaufman, 1989; Lewis, 1992; Tangney & Dearing, 2002). Scheff (1988) described shame as the affect of deference and Kaufman (1989) defined it as the affect of inferiority. Several authors have associated shame to the internal experience of the self as undesirable, unattractive, defective, worthless and powerless (Gilbert, 1998; Nathanson, 1996; Lewis, 1992; Tangney & Fischer, 1995)...

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This randomized-controlled trial aims to test the efficacy of a group intervention (Kg-Free) for women with overweight or obesity based on mindfulness, ACT and compassion approaches. The intervention aimed to reduce weight self-stigma and unhealthy eating patterns and increase quality-of-life (QoL). Seventy-three women, aged between 18 and 55 years old, with BMI ≥25 without binge-eating seeking weight loss treatment were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Kg-Free comprises 10 weekly group sessions plus 2 booster fortnightly sessions, of 2h30 h each. The control group maintained Treatment as Usual (TAU). Data was collected at baseline and at the end of the Kg-Free intervention. Overall, participants enrolled in Kg-Free found the intervention to be very important and helpful when dealing with their weight-related unwanted internal experiences. Moreover, when compared with TAU, the Kg-Free group revealed a significant increased health-related QoL and physical exercise and a reduction of weight self-stigma, unhealthy eating behaviors, BMI, self-criticism, weight-related experiential avoidance and psychopathological symptoms at post-treatment. Results for self-compassion showed a trend towards significance, whereas no significant between-groups differences were found for mindfulness. Taken together, evidence was found for Kg-Free efficacy in reducing weight-related negative experiences and promoting healthy behaviors, psychological functioning, and QoL.