Self-Compassion and Veteran's Health: A Scoping Review

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that self-compassion is related to positive health and wellbeing outcomes, therefore, this paper explores this concept within the military veteran population. The aim of this review was to identify research and explore the evidencebased of self-compassion as a protective factor, from negative health outcomes, amongst military veterans. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guided the undertaking and reporting of this review. Databases (CINAHL, EBSCO, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, Web of Science), manual searches of grey literature, websites, and reference lists of retrieved articles, were explored to identify peer-reviewed English language studies published from 2000 to 2019. Searches included any study that measured self-compassion or involved self-compassion education/training. A narrative synthesis was utilized. Searches retrieved 89 articles; 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies were conducted in the US and included veterans, with three also including partners. There was heterogeneity between studies' designs, methodologies, and characteristics. Of these studies, 11 examined associated factors, eight measured improvements in health or well-being outcomes, and six reported feasibility and acceptability of self-compassion strategies. Self-compassion seems to be particularly beneficial for veterans who have experienced trauma, suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, trauma-related guilt, depression (or at risk of suicide), and for those who have been in combat and deployed. Limited evidence was found for Schizophrenia and alcohol misuse. Self-compassion appears to have a protective role with positive outcomes for mental and physical health in veterans, in particular for traumarelated psychopathology symptoms.

Examining the Influence of Self-compassion Education and Training Upon Parents and Families When Caring for their Children: A Systematic Review

“…Being kind and compassionate to yourself has been largely overlooked as a self-care strategy [41]. A parent's inner voice is often self-critical and self-blaming.…”

“…In addition, self-compassion has health and well-being benefits for people in general [17]. There is also a growing body of evidence to suggest that self-compassion is related to positive health and well-being outcomes for several target populations, such as veterans [41]; nurses and midwives [50]; student nurses [51]. This review contributes further to this evidence, identifying that self-compassion education may be a strategy to support parental mental well-being.…”

“…Mindfulness is interwoven with the concept and practices of self-compassion and has its origins derived from Buddhist core teachings [54]. Many of the studies in this review used mindfulness-based approaches (MBA) such as MBSR, MBCT, and CFT, which focused on mindfulnessawareness and involved taking a balanced approach to negative emotions and neither suppressing nor exaggerating these and a willingness to acknowledge negative emotions with openness and clarity [41,55]. There is emerging evidence linking selfcompassion and mindfulness to neuroscientific changes in the brain [32,56], which recently showed that cognitively based compassion training for parents reduced cortisol levels in infants and young children.…”

Psychophysiological Responses to a Brief Self-Compassion Exercise in Armed Forces Veterans

“…Therefore, therapeutic approaches that emphasize reducing hyperarousal and the stress response as well as building social connectedness could reduce PTSD symptoms in veterans. The new concept of self-compassion has shown to be a promising approach for alleviation of PTSD symptoms in both civilian and veteran populations (e.g., Lee, 2009 ; Steen et al, 2021 ). Self-compassion can be described as “an intimate awareness of the suffering of oneself and others with the wish to alleviate it” ( Germer and Neff, 2013 ).…”

Self-compassion Education for Health Professionals (Nurses and Midwives): Protocol for a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study

“…There is some evidence that when a person has high levels of anxiety and stress and history of depression, this is associated with low levels of self-compassion [ 2 , 5 ]. However, much of the research that has been undertaken has involved students as the population of interest and, more recently, military veterans [ 6 ]. It has been discussed that when a person has the ability to have self-compassion, they are more inclined to have good interpersonal relationships and experience a greater sense of self-worth and happiness compared with a person who has an impairment in self-compassion [ 7 ].…”