Abstract
Objectives
Inducing self-compassion has been shown to be helpful, particularly for individuals with high levels of social anxiety. However, few studies have compared a brief self-compassion intervention to another adaptive strategy. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the impact of a brief (5-min) self-compassion induction for social stress compared to another beneficial strategy.
Method
Two studies were conducted to compare self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal as strategies for coping with past stressful social situations. In Study 1, participants (n = 276) were asked to recall and describe a situation during the COVID-19 pandemic where they felt judged and then were randomly assigned to either a self-compassion, cognitive reappraisal, or a control writing condition. In Study 2 (n = 277), participants were asked to recall any past stressful social situation where they felt judged by others.
Results
For Study 1, those who completed either the self-compassion or cognitive reappraisal exercise reported significantly lower distress immediately after the induction, and higher levels of self-compassion and reappraisal compared to the control condition. For Study 2, only those who completed the self-compassion induction reported significantly higher levels of self-compassion and reappraisal and significantly lower levels of distress and state anxiety compared to those in the control condition, but the self-compassion and reappraisal conditions did not differ significantly from one another.
Conclusion
These studies build support for the benefits of responding to social stressors with self-compassion.
Preregistration
This study is not preregistered.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge this work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in the form of a graduate scholarship to the first author and a Grant (435-2018-0349) awarded to the second author, as well as an Ontario Graduate Scholarship awarded to the first author.
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CB: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft,
NK: Conceptualization, Supervision and Writing—Reviewing and editing.
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Burnham, C.M., Kocovski, N.L. Coping with Past Social Stress: Comparing Brief Self-Compassion, Cognitive Reappraisal and Control Writing Exercises. Mindfulness 15, 203–216 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02268-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02268-4