Does a short self‐compassion intervention for students increase healthy self‐regulation? A randomized control trial

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of a two-week self-compassion course on healthy self-regulation (personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse control) and unhealthy self-regulation (self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking) in university students. We also examined the effects on self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Students (N = 158, 85% women, mean age = 25 years) were randomized to an intervention group and a waiting-list control group in a multi-baseline randomized control trial. Healthy self-control was measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) and the Self-Control Scale; unhealthy self-control was measured by the Non-judgement subscale from the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (reversed) and the Habit Index of Negative Thinking (HINT). Secondary outcomes were measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-trait), the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). A 2 × 3 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed gains for the intervention-group in personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse-control and reductions in self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking, as well as increases in self-compassion and reductions in anxiety and depression. After all participants had completed the course, the groups were combined and repeated measures ANOVAs showed that changes remained at six-month follow-up for personal growth self-efficacy, self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking; as well as for self-compassion, anxiety and depression. Concluding, a short self-compassion course seems an effective method of increasing self-compassion and perceived control over one's life for university students, as well as increasing mental health.

The Mediating Role of Shared Flow and Perceived Emotional Synchrony on Compassion for Others in a Mindful-Dancing Program

“…Indeed, the short-lived nature of the effects is in line with other collective gathering studies that have also suggested brief temporal effects (Páez et al 2015;Rimé et al 2011). These findings happen to be comparable to other brief relaxation and mindfulness interventions that have been shown to improve selfreported anxiety and fatigue (Chad-Friedman et al 2017;Dundas et al 2017). Finally, the lack of randomization and absence of an active control group means that non-specific unknown mechanistic factors may have influenced the findings (e.g., even though no significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups at pre-test in any of the study variables, the groups could have differed on variables that we chose not to assess as part of this pilot design).…”

Becoming Aware of Inner Self-Critique and Kinder Toward Self: A Qualitative Study of Experiences of Outcome After a Brief Self-Compassion Intervention for University Level Students

“…Ninety-seven students completed the intervention in one of four identical courses. A t -test comparing students who completed vs. dropped out showed that they were similar with respect to gender, age, and baseline values of the variables of interest (Dundas et al, 2017). The 97 completers (80 women, 17 men) represent the full participant sample contributing to the initial qualitative survey in the project.…”

“…The findings reported in this qualitative study were collected as part of the larger multi methods clinical study conducted on-campus at University of Bergen (Dundas et al, 2017).…”

“…In the quantitative study, we found gains in personal growth self-efficacy and healthy impulse-control and reductions in self-judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking, as well as increases in self-compassion and reductions in anxiety and depression. Changes remained at 6-month follow-up for personal growth self-efficacy, self- judgment and habitual negative self-directed thinking, as well as for self-compassion, anxiety, and depression (Dundas et al, 2017).…”

“…The aim of this qualitative part of our multi-methods project was to investigate the lived experiences of the students who participated in the brief group-based self-compassion intervention (Dundas et al, 2017). Here, we explore the following research questions: what do the students describe, in their own words, as the most important outcome after participating in a brief group-based self-compassion intervention?…”