In the short-term dynamic psychotherapy model termed "Affect Phobia Treatment," it is assumed that increase in patients' defense recognition, decrease in inhibitory affects (e.g., anxiety, shame, guilt), and increase in the experience of activating affects (e.g., sadness, anger, closeness) are related to enhanced self-compassion across therapeutic approaches. The present study aimed to test thi...

PURPOSE Evidence suggests that self-compassion may be beneficial to older adults who are struggling to cope with the aging process. The purpose of this study was to assess the thoughts of self-compassionate older adults and to determine whether self-compassionate thoughts relate to positive responses to aging. DESIGN AND METHODS Participants (n = 121, M = 76.2 years, approximately 65% female)...

Self-compassion interventions may be uniquely suited to address body image distress (BID), as change-based strategies may have limited utility in a cultural context that so highly values appearance. The current study evaluated a version of an Internet-based self-compassion training, which had previously shown promising results, but was limited by high attrition. The intervention period was redu...

This study examines the relationship between self-compassion and psychological resilience in older adults. A sample of 102 (69% female) older adults residing in independent living in a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) participated in this study. They completed a survey that assessed self-compassion, perceived stress, general health, happiness, and depression. In older adults with low...

Self-compassion, treating oneself as a loved friend might, demonstrates beneficial associations with body image and eating behaviors. In this systematic review, 28 studies supporting the role of self-compassion as a protective factor against poor body image and eating pathology are reviewed. Findings across various study designs consistently linked self-compassion to lower levels of eating path...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this 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 methodology were adopted as the study was focused on understanding the meaning and experiences of participants towards self-compassion from existing theory. M...

Body appreciation has been found to be linked to interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, with attachment styles and self-compassion separately identified as important correlates. The present study examined these variables together in a model, and we hypothesized that maternal attachment anxiety was related to peer and romantic attachment anxiety, which, in turn, was associated with self-compas...

OBJECTIVE This study tested a self-regulation resource model (SRRM) of self-compassion and health-promoting behavior intentions in emerging adults. The SRRM posits that positive and negative affect in conjunction with health self-efficacy serve as valuable self-regulation resources to promote health behaviors. METHODS An online survey was completed by 403 emerging adults recruited from the co...