Top

Gepubliceerd in:

14-02-2022 | ORIGINAL PAPER

Training Self-compassion: Exploring the Effects on Adolescents’ Physiological and Self-reported Stress Responses

Auteurs: Brenda Volkaert, Sandra Verbeken, Taaike Debeuf, Nathalie Michels, Caroline Braet

Gepubliceerd in: Mindfulness | Uitgave 4/2022

Abstract

Objectives

Previous studies demonstrated that self-compassion may generate positive effects on adults’ mental health through its impact on stress responses. As adolescence is characterized by elevated levels of stress, self-compassion may be particularly relevant for this age group. The aim of this study was to assess the immediate effects of a brief training in self-compassion on adolescents’ stress recovery following a validated stress induction.

Methods

Fifty-three adolescents between 11 and 18 years old (64% girls) were randomly assigned to a self-compassion group or a control group prior to undergoing a three-phase experiment (i.e., baseline, stress induction, and instruction phase). Adolescents in the self-compassion group received a brief training in self-compassion before the start of the experiment and were asked to use the learned technique during the instruction phase. Adolescents in the control group did not receive a training and were provided with neutral instructions during the instruction phase. Physiological stress outcomes (i.e., salivary cortisol, heart rate, and heart rate variability) and self-reported stress outcomes (i.e., self-reported affect) were compared between groups.

Results

The main results revealed no clear differences between both groups pertaining physiological and self-reported stress responses.

Conclusions

The current findings could not provide evidence for the beneficial effects of a brief self-compassion training among adolescents, and even suggest that it may have detrimental effects on the physiological stress response. Findings are discussed within a developmental framework and important considerations for further research are noted.

vorige artikel Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention and Emotional Recovery in Borderline Personality Features: Evidence from Psychophysiological Assessment

volgende artikel Higher Serum Antioxidant Capacity Levels and Its Association with Serum NOx Levels Among Long-term Experienced Meditators in Sri Lanka

Alleen toegankelijk voor geautoriseerde gebruikers

Arch, J. J., Brown, K. W., Dean, D. J., Landy, L. N., Brown, K. D., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2014). Self-compassion training modulates alpha-amylase, heart rate variability, and subjective responses to social evaluative threat in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 42, 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.018CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Bass, E. C., Stednitz, S. J., Simonson, K., Shen, T., & Gahtan, E. (2014). Physiological stress reactivity and empathy following social exclusion: a test of the defensive emotional analgesia hypothesis. Social Neuroscience, 9(5), 504–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2014.929533CrossRefPubMed

Berntson, G. G., Thomas Bigger Jr., J., Eckberg, D. L., Grossman, P., Kaufmann, P. G., Malik, M., Nagaraja, H. N., Porges, S. W., Saul, J. P., & Stone, P. H. (1997). Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiology, 34(6), 623–648.CrossRefPubMed

Blechert, J., Peyk, P., Liedlgruber, M., & Wilhelm, F. H. (2016). ANSLAB: Integrated multichannel peripheral biosignal processing in psychophysiological science. Behavior Research Methods, 48(4), 1528–1545. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0665-1CrossRefPubMed

Bluth, K. (2017). The self-compassion workbook for teens: Mindfulness and compassion skills to overcome self-criticism and embrace who you are. New Harbinger Publications.

Bluth, K., Campo, R. A., Futch, W. S., & Gaylord, S. A. (2017). Age and gender differences in the associations of self-compassion and emotional well-being in a large adolescent sample. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(4), 840–853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0567-2CrossRefPubMed

Bluth, K., & Eisenlohr-Moul, T. A. (2017). Response to a mindful self-compassion intervention in teens: A within-person association of mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional well-being outcomes. Journal of Adolescence, 57, 108–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.04.001CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Bluth, K., Gaylord, S. A., Campo, R. A., Mullarkey, M. C., & Hobbs, L. (2016a). Making friends with yourself: a mixed methods pilot study of a mindful self-compassion program for adolescents. Mindfulness, 7(2), 479–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0476-6CrossRefPubMed

Bluth, K., Roberson, P. N., Gaylord, S. A., Faurot, K. R., Grewen, K. M., Arzon, S.,& Girdler, S. S. (2016b). Does self-compassion protect adolescents from stress? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(4), 1098–1109.CrossRefPubMed

Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2014). A developmental perspective on internalizing and externalizing disorders. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Internalizing and Externalizing Expression of Dysfunction (Vol. 2, pp. 1–19). Psychology Press.CrossRef

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Erlbaum.

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396.CrossRefPubMed

Cole, D. A., Maxwell, S. E., Martin, J. M., Peeke, L. G., Seroczynski, A. D., Tram, J. M., Hoffman, K. B., Ruiz, M. D., Jacquez, F., & Maschman, T. (2001). The development of multiple domains of child and adolescent self-concept: a cohort sequential longitudinal design. Child Development, 72(6), 1723–1746. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00375CrossRefPubMed

Compas, B. E. (1987). Stress and life events during childhood and adolescence. Clinical Psychology Review, 7(3), 275–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(87)90037-7CrossRef

De Witte, N. A., Sutterlin, S., Braet, C., & Mueller, S. C. (2017). Psychophysiological correlates of emotion regulation training in adolescent anxiety: Evidence from the novel PIER task. Journal of Affective Disorders, 214, 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.012CrossRefPubMed

Deutz, M. H. F., Van Noorden, T. H. J., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Karremans, J. C. (2013). Let's play ball! A field experiment on how children experience and witness ostracism. Unpublished manuscript.

Dulleck, U., Ristl, A., Schaffner, M., & Torgler, B. (2011). Heart rate variability, the autonomic nervous system, and neuroeconomic experiments. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 4(2), 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022245CrossRef

Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Byrnes, J. (2003). Cognitive development in adolescence. In R. M. Lerner, M. A. Easterbrooks, & J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Developmental psychology (6th ed., pp. 325–350). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471264385.wei0613CrossRef

Ernst, M., Pine, D. S., & Hardin, M. (2006). Triadic model of the neurobiology of motivated behavior in adolescence. Psychological Medicine, 36(3), 299–312. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291705005891CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Evans, B. E., Greaves-Lord, K., Euser, A. S., Tulen, J. H., Franken, I. H., & Huizink, A. C. (2013). Determinants of physiological and perceived physiological stress reactivity in children and adolescents. PLoS One, 8(4), e61724. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061724CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Fanselow, M. S. (1994). Neural organization of the defensive behavior system responsible for fear. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1(4), 429–438.CrossRef

Ferrari, M., Hunt, C., Harrysunker, A., Abbott, M. J., Beath, A. P., & Einstein, D. A. (2019). Self-compassion interventions and psychosocial outcomes: a meta-analysis of RCTs. Mindfulness, 10(8), 1455–1473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01134-6CrossRef

Flynn, M., & Rudolph, K. D. (2010). The contribution of deficits in emotional clarity to stress responses and depression. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 291–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2010.04.004CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Fowler, C. H., Miernicki, M. E., Rudolph, K. D., & Telzer, E. H. (2017). Disrupted amygdala-prefrontal connectivity during emotion regulation links stress-reactive rumination and adolescent depressive symptoms. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 27, 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2017.09.002CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Frankenberger, K. D. (2000). Adolescent egocentrism: a comparison among adolescents and adults. Journal of Adolescence, 23(3), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2000.0319CrossRefPubMed

Fresnics, A., & Borders, A. (2017). Angry rumination mediates the unique associations between self-compassion and anger and aggression. Mindfulness, 8(3), 554–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0629-2CrossRef

Germer, C., & Neff, K. (2019). Mindful self-compassion (MSC). In I. Itvzan (Ed.), The handbook of mindfulness-based programs: Every established intervention, from medicine to education (pp. 357–367). Routledge.CrossRef

Giedd, J. N., & Rapoport, J. L. (2010). Structural MRI of pediatric brain development: what have we learned and where are we going? Neuron, 67(5), 728–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.040CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15(3), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.bp.107.00526CrossRef

Gilbert, P. (2010). The Compassionate Mind. New Harbinger Publications.

Gilbert, P., & Irons, C. (2009). Shame, self-criticism, and self-compassion in adolescence. In N. B. Allen & L. B. Sheeber (Eds.), Adolescent Emotional Development and the Emergence of Depressive Disorders (Vol. 1, pp. 195–214). Cambridge University Press.

Goldberger, J. J., Challapalli, S., Tung, R., Parker, M. A., & Kadish, A. H. (2001). Relationship of heart rate variability to parasympathetic effect. Circulation, 103(15), 1977–1983. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.103.15.1977CrossRefPubMed

Goldstein, D. S. (1987). Stress-induced activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Baillière's Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1(2), 253–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-351X(87)80063-0CrossRefPubMed

Gullone, E., & King, N. J. (1997). Three-year follow-up of normal fear in children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1997.tb00727.xCrossRef

Hackshaw, A. (2008). Small studies: strengths and limitations. European Respiratory Journal, 32(5), 1141–1143. https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.00136408CrossRef

Haggerty, R. J., Garmezy, N., Sherrod, L. R., & Rutter, M. (1996). Stress, risk, and resilience in children and adolescents: Processes, mechanisms, and interventions. Cambridge University Press.

Hessler-Kaufmann, J. B., Heese, J., Berking, M., Voderholzer, U., & Diedrich, A. (2020). Emotion regulation strategies in bulimia nervosa: an experimental investigation of mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive restructuring. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 7(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-020-00129-3CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript. Yale University.

Hutcherson, C. A., Seppala, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion, 8(5), 720–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237CrossRefPubMed

Hyde, J. S., Mezulis, A. H., & Abramson, L. Y. (2008). The ABCs of depression: integrating affective, biological, and cognitive models to explain the emergence of the gender difference in depression. Psychological Review, 115(2), 291–313. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.115.2.291CrossRefPubMed

Iffland, B., Sansen, L. M., Catani, C., & Neuner, F. (2014). Rapid heartbeat, but dry palms:reactions of heart rate and skin conductance levels to social rejection. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 956. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00956CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Kirby, J. N., Tellegen, C. L., & Steindl, S. R. (2017). A meta-analysis of compassion-based interventions: current state of knowledge and future directions. Behavior Therapy, 48(6), 778–792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2017.06.003CrossRefPubMed

Kirschner, H., Kuyken, W., Wright, K., Roberts, H., Brejcha, C., & Karl, A. (2019). Soothing your heart and feeling connected: A new experimental paradigm to study the benefits of self-compassion. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(3), 545–565. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618812438CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Klosowska, J. C., Verbeken, S., Braet, C., Wijnant, K., Debeuf, T., De Henauw, S., & Michels, N. (2020). The moderating role of emotion regulation in the association between stressors with psychological and biological measures in adolescence. Psychosomatic Medicine, 82(5), 495–507. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000804CrossRefPubMed

Lane, R. D., & Schwartz, G. E. (1987). Levels of emotional awareness: a cognitive-developmental theory and its application to psychopathology. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 144(2), 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.144.2.133CrossRefPubMed

Luo, X., Qiao, L., & Che, X. W. (2018). Self-compassion modulates heart rate variability and negative affect to experimentally induced stress. Mindfulness, 9(5), 1522–1528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0900-9CrossRef

MacBeth, A., & Gumley, A. (2012). Exploring compassion: a meta-analysis of the association between self-compassion and psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(6), 545–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.06.003CrossRefPubMed

Marsh, I. C., Chan, S. W. Y., & MacBeth, A. (2018). Self-compassion and psychological distress in adolescents: a meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 9(4), 1011–1027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0850-7CrossRefPubMed

Mazzone, A., Camodeca, M., Cardone, D., & Merla, A. (2017). Bullying perpetration and victimization in early adolescence: Physiological response to social exclusion. International Journal of Developmental Science, 11, 121–130. https://doi.org/10.3233/DEV-170225CrossRef

McRae, K., Gross, J. J., Weber, J., Robertson, E. R., Sokol-Hessner, P., Ray, R. D., Gabrieli, J. D., & Ochsner, K. N. (2012). The development of emotion regulation: an fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal in children, adolescents and young adults. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(1), 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsr093CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Moshman, D. (2020). Adolescent reasoning and rationality. In D. Fasko & F. Fair (Eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning (pp. 99–113). Brill Sense.

Muris, P., & Petrocchi, N. (2017). Protection or vulnerability? A meta-analysis of the relations between the positive and negative components of self-Compassion and psychopathology. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 24(2), 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2005CrossRef

Neff, K. (2003). Self-Compassion: an alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2(2), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860390129863CrossRef

Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21923CrossRefPubMed

Niermann, H. C., Figner, B., & Roelofs, K. (2017). Individual differences in defensive stress-responses: the potential relevance for psychopathology. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 14, 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.01.002CrossRef

Petrocchi, N., Ottaviani, C., & Couyoumdjian, A. (2017). Compassion at the mirror: Exposure to a mirror increases the efficacy of a self-compassion manipulation in enhancing soothing positive affect and heart rate variability. Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(6), 525–536. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1209544CrossRef

Ponsi, G., Monachesi, B., Panasiti, V., Aglioti, S. M., & Panasiti, M. S. (2019). Physiological and behavioral reactivity to social exclusion: a functional infrared thermal imaging study in patients with psoriasis. Journal of Neurophysiology, 121(1), 38–49. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00555.2018CrossRefPubMed

Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology). W.W. Norton & Company.

Porges, S. W. (2017). Vagal pathways: portals to compassion. In E. M. Seppälä, E. Simon-Thomas, S. L. Brown, M. C. Worline, C. D. Cameron, & J. R. Doty (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of compassion science (pp. 189–204). Oxford University Press.

Rockliff, H., Gilbert, P., McEwan, K., Lightman, S., & Glover, D. (2008). A pilot exploration of heart rate variability and salivary cortisol responses to compassion-focused imagery. Clinical Neuropsychiatry: Journal of Treatment Evaluation, 5(3), 132–139.

Romeo, R. D. (2013). The teenage brain: The stress response and the adolescent brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(2), 140–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413475445CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Romeo, R. D., Bellani, R., Karatsoreos, I. N., Chhua, N., Vernov, M., Conrad, C. D., & McEwen, B. S. (2006). Stress history and pubertal development interact to shape hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis plasticity. Endocrinology, 147(4), 1664–1674. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2005-1432CrossRefPubMed

Salahuddin, L., Jeong, M. G., Kim, D., Lim, S. K., Won, K., & Woo, J. M. (2007). Dependence of heart rate variability on stress factors of stress response inventory. In In 2007 9th international conference on e-health networking, application and services (pp. 236–239). IEEE.CrossRef

Sandstrom, M. J., Deutz, M. H., Lansu, T. A., van Noorden, T. H., Karremans, J. C., & Cillessen, A. H. (2017). Unanimous versus partial rejection: how the number of excluders influences the impact of ostracism in children. Aggressive Behavior, 43(2), 190–203.CrossRefPubMed

Schlotz, W., Kumsta, R., Layes, I., Entringer, S., Jones, A., & Wüst, S. (2008). Covariance between psychological and endocrine responses to pharmacological challenge and psychosocial stress: a question of timing. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70(7), 787–796. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181810658CrossRefPubMed

Schwartz, P. D., Maynard, A. M., & Uzelac, S. M. (2008). Adolescent egocentrism: a contemporary view. Adolescence, 43(171), 441–448.PubMed

Shader, T. M., Gatzke-Kopp, L. M., Crowell, S. E., Jamila Reid, M., Thayer, J. F., Vasey, M. W., Webster-Stratton, C., Bell, Z., & Beauchaine, T. P. (2018). Quantifying respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Effects of misspecifying breathing frequencies across development. Development and Psychopathology, 30(1), 351–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000669CrossRefPubMed

Silvers, J. A., Insel, C., Powers, A., Franz, P., Helion, C., Martin, R. E., Weber, J., Mischel, W., Casey, B. J., & Ochsner, K. N. (2017). vlPFC-vmPFC-Amygdala interactions underlie age-related differences in cognitive regulation of emotion. Cerebral Cortex, 27(7), 3502–3514. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw073CrossRefPubMed

Strauss, C., Taylor, B. L., Gu, J., Kuyken, W., Baer, R., Jones, F., & Cavanagh, K. (2016). What is compassion and how can we measure it? A review of definitions and measures. Clinical Psychology Review, 47, 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.004CrossRefPubMed

Terry, M. L., & Leary, M. R. (2011). Self-compassion, self-regulation, and health. Self and Identity, 10(3), 352–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2011.558404CrossRef

Thayer, J. F., & Sternberg, E. (2006). Beyond heart rate variability: vagal regulation of allostatic systems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1088(1), 361–372. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1366.014CrossRefPubMed

Tian, S., Luo, X., Che, X., & Xu, G. (2020). Self-Compassion demonstrating a dual relationship with pain dependent on high-frequency heart rate variability. Pain Research & Management, 2020, 3126036. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3126036CrossRef

Volkaert, B., Van Beveren, M.-L., & Wrzesien, M. (2020). Op compassie gebaseerde interventies bij adolescenten. In C. Braet & S. Bögels (Eds.), Protocollaire Behandelingen voor Kinderen en Adolescenten. Boom.

Williams, D. P., Cash, C., Rankin, C., Bernardi, A., Koenig, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2015). Resting heart rate variability predicts self-reported difficulties in emotion regulation: a focus on different facets of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 261. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00261CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Yaroslavsky, I., Rottenberg, J., Bylsma, L. M., Jennings, J. R., George, C., Baji, I., Benák, I., Dochnal, R., Halas, K., & Kapornai, K. (2016). Parasympathetic nervous system activity predicts mood repair use and its effectiveness among adolescents with and without histories of major depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(3), 323. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000149CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Zessin, U., Dickhauser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015). The relationship between self-compassion and well-being: a meta-analysis. Applied Psychology. Health and Well-Being, 7(3), 340–364. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12051CrossRefPubMed

Zijlmans, M. A., Beijers, R., Mack, S., Pruessner, J. C., & de Weerth, C. (2013). Cortisol responses to social evaluation in 10- to 15-year-old boys and girls. Stress, 16(4), 393–401. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2013.764494CrossRefPubMed

Titel: Training Self-compassion: Exploring the Effects on Adolescents’ Physiological and Self-reported Stress Responses
Auteurs: Brenda Volkaert
Sandra Verbeken
Taaike Debeuf
Nathalie Michels
Caroline Braet
Publicatiedatum: 14-02-2022
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Mindfulness / Uitgave 4/2022
Print ISSN: 1868-8527
Elektronisch ISSN: 1868-8535
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01838-2

Andere artikelen Uitgave 4/2022

Effects of a Mindfulness Program on Stress and Psychological Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors: a Quasi-Experimental Study

ORIGINAL PAPER

Higher Serum Antioxidant Capacity Levels and Its Association with Serum NOx Levels Among Long-term Experienced Meditators in Sri Lanka

ORIGINAL PAPER

Compassion Protects Mental Health and Social Safeness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across 21 Countries

ORIGINAL PAPER

Mindful Awareness Promotes Resilience: Buffered Links Among Childhood Sexual Abuse Severity, Goal-Directed Emotion Dysregulation, and Psychopathology

ORIGINAL PAPER

Correction to: The Role of Executive Function in Children’s Mindfulness Experience

Open Access
Correction

Interpersonal Mindfulness Questionnaire: Scale Development and Validation

ORIGINAL PAPER