Self‐compassion, trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review

Abstract

Self-compassion has emerged as an important construct in the mental health literature. Although conceptual links between self-compassion and trauma are apparent, a review has not been completed to examine whether this association is supported by empirical research findings. To systematically summarize knowledge on the association between trauma and/or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-compassion. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, PubMed, Ovid Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and PILOTS databases, and papers reporting a direct analysis on the relationship between these constructs were identified. The search yielded 35 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Despite considerable heterogeneity in study design, sample, measurement, and trauma type, there was consistent evidence to suggest that increased self-compassion is associated with less PTSD symptomatology and some evidence to suggest that reduced fear of self-compassion is associated with less PTSD symptomatology. There was tentative evidence to suggest that interventions based, in part or whole, on a self-compassion model potentially reduce PTSD symptoms. Although findings are positive for the association between increased selfcompassion and reduced PTSD symptoms, the precise mechanism of these protective effects is unknown. Prospective and longitudinal studies would be beneficial in clarifying this. The review also highlighted the variability in what is and should be referred to as trauma exposure, indicating the need for further research to clarify the concept. K E Y W O R D Sself-compassion, fear of self-compassion, trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, review

“I forgive myself”: The association between self‐criticism, self‐acceptance, and PTSD in women victims of IPV, and the buffering role of self‐efficacy

“…Specifically, we argue that an antecedent of psychological well-being consists of reducing the negative feelings toward the self and "forgiving" the self, so that understanding and being compassionate toward the self becomes possible. Note that future research might take advantage of a closer focus on self-compassion, which has been shown to be relevant to determine levels of PTSD (Winders et al, 2020).…”

“…In addition, the feeling of compassion toward the self is shown to be associated with better mental health and may therefore have implications for posttraumatic processing (Valdez & Lilly, 2016). Furthermore, lower selfcompassion in a sample of trauma survivors was associated with greater avoidant symptom severity, an important component of the posttraumatic stress, while greater self-compassion was correlated with less posttraumatic stress symptoms (Thompson & Waltz, 2008;Winders et al, 2020).…”

Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Confinement and Its Relationship with Meditation

“…In this respect, possible protective factors could be mindfulness or self-compassion, since, as mentioned in a recent review [15], it seems that mindfulness-based treatments are effective in reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and the Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Program was the one that provided the most evidence [16]. In this vein, another review [17] emphasized the promising results associating an increase in self-compassion with reduction in PTSD symptoms, reducing the impact of exposure to trauma.…”

Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R): Randomized Waitlist-Control Evidence of Efficacy and Safety

“…These prospective data thereby illustrate the urgency and importance to develop, test and deliver mental health interventions tailored for refugees and asylum seekers (Nickerson, Liddell, et al, 2017;Tol et al, 2014). Finally, findings may also have implications for MBIs among other trauma-affected populations Winders et al, 2020). In light of growing interest in the application of MBIs among traumatized populations, and the still limited standardized and tested trauma-sensitive MBI protocols, adaptations of MBTR-R to other trauma-affected-populations may represent a promising future direction (see SM for more details on MBIs and trauma recovery).…”

“…Second, MBIs target mechanisms and risk processes implicated in trauma recovery or the buffering of chronic stress. These include meta-cognitive processes such as decentering (Bernstein et al, 2015;Shoham et al, 2017;Teasdale et al, 2002); executive functions such as inhibitory control in working memory or attentional control (Jha et al, 2017;Teper et al, 2013); emotion regulation skills including interoceptive awareness, acceptance, and reduced reactivity (Gu et al, 2015;Held & Owens, 2015;Lindsay & Creswell, 2017); (mal)adaptive self-referentiality including reduced perseverative negative thinking (Gu et al, 2015;Van Der Velden et al, 2015) and enhanced self-compassion (Garland et al, 2015;Germer & Neff, 2015;Winders et al, 2020).…”