An exploration of group-based compassion-focused therapy for adolescents and their parents
Article Category: research-article
Published Online: Mar 21, 2020
Page range: 38 - 47
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2020-005
Keywords
© 2020 Anna Sofia Bratt et al., published by sciendo.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Background:
The long-term negative consequences of mental health problems during adolescence highlight the need for effective treatments. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) aims to help individuals to enhance their ability to support and care for themselves and to alleviate shame and self-stigmatization.
Objective:
This non-randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of group-based CFT on perceived stress and the extent of self-compassion in a clinical sample of adolescents receiving psychiatric care for complex mental health difficulties and their parents.
Method:
The participants were 43 adolescents (ages 14–17; 83.7 % female) under treatment at a child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic in Sweden and their parents (
Results:
The fathers scored highest on self-compassion and had less perceived stress at both times than the adolescents or mothers. There were no significant differences between the CFT and TAU groups in self-compassion or perceived stress at either time, and the effect sizes were small (
Conclusions:
Some patients seem to benefit from group-based CFT in ways similar to the benefits of specialized therapeutic approaches. Further research into the utility of CFT for adolescents with MH problems and their parents, as well as the long-term clinical effects of CFT for this group is needed.