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A Review of Self-Compassion as an Active Ingredient in the Prevention and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in Young People
Open accessAbstract
Previous meta-analyses have found higher self-compassion is associated with lower anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of self-compassion as an active ingredient in the treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression in youth. This was conducted through (i) a systematic review of the literature and (ii) qualitative consultation with young people and researchers in self-compassion. Fifty studies met our inclusion criteria. Eight studies evaluated self-compassion interventions among youth aged 14-24, and the remaining studies measured the association between self-compassion and anxiety, and/or depression among this age group. Qualitative interviews were conducted with four self-compassion researchers. Interviews were also conducted in two rounds of consultation with 20 young people (M age = 18.85 years, age range 14-24 years). Higher self-compassion was related to lower symptoms of anxiety, r = - 0.49, 95% CI (- 0.57, - 0.42), and depression, r = - 0.50, 95% CI (- 0.53, - 0.47). There was evidence for self-compassion interventions in decreasing anxiety and depression in young people. Consultation with young people indicated they were interested in self-compassion interventions; however, treatment should be available in a range of formats and tailored to address diversity. Self-compassion experts emphasised the importance of decreasing self-criticism as a reason why self-compassion interventions work. The importance of targeting self-criticism is supported by the preferences of young people who said they would be more likely to engage in a treatment reducing self-criticism than increasing self-kindness. Future research is required to add to the emerging evidence for self-compassion interventions decreasing symptoms of anxiety and depression in young people.
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“Review evidence has shown a significant and negative association between self-compassion and a range of mental health symptoms, including depression [44], anxiety [44], and stress [45].”
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“Review evidence has shown a significant and negative association between self-compassion and a range of mental health symptoms, including depression [44], anxiety [44], and stress [45].”
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Citations
Cites
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · cited 2×
“The six steps of thematic analysis outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) were followed.”
MethodThe PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., et al. (2021) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.n71 · Cited by 108,283
Wasserman, S. S., Hedges, L. V., & Olkin, I. (1988) · Journal of Educational Statistics · doi:10.2307/1164953 · Cited by 10,377
The Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Self-Compassion
NEFF, K. D. (2003) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298860309027 · Cited by 6,436 · cited 7×
“While many studies demonstrating a link between higher self-compassion and lower symptoms of anxiety/depression have used the SCS (Neff, 2003a), it has been argued that incorporating the negative subscales is problematic as items overlap with psychological symptoms, which over-inflates the relationship of the total se…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-Compassion: An Alternative Conceptualization of a Healthy Attitude Toward Oneself
NEFF, K. (2003) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298860309032 · Cited by 5,440 · cited 7×
“While many studies demonstrating a link between higher self-compassion and lower symptoms of anxiety/depression have used the SCS (Neff, 2003a), it has been argued that incorporating the negative subscales is problematic as items overlap with psychological symptoms, which over-inflates the relationship of the total se…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-compassion interventions and psychosocial outcomes: a meta-analysis of RCTs
Ferrari, M., Hunt, C., Harrysunker, A., Abbott, M. J., Beath, A. P., & Einstein, D. A. (2019) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01134-6 · Cited by 740
Adult mental health disorders and their age at onset
Jones, P. B. (2013) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.112.119164 · Cited by 701 · cited 1×
“Young people aged 14–24 years were included given evidence for peak onset of psychological disorders during this period (Jones, 2018).”
BackgroundRaes, F. (2010) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.023 · Cited by 535
Self-Compassion and Self-Construal in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan
Neff, K. D., Pisitsungkagarn, K., & Hsieh, Y.-P. (2008) · Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022022108314544 · Cited by 531
Smeets, E., Neff, K., Alberts, H., & Peters, M. (2014) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22076 · Cited by 469
Cited by
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Critical life course interventions for children and adolescents to promote mental health
Laurenzi, C. A., Mamutse, S., Marlow, M., Mawoyo, T. L., Katzen, L. S., Carvajal-Vélez, L., Lai, J., Luitel, N. P., Servili, C., Sinha, M., et al. (2022) · Cambridge Prisms Global Mental Health · doi:10.1017/gmh.2022.58 · Cited by 31
“On a more individualised basis, these include components such as self-compassion (Egan et al., 2022) and engagement with the arts (Easwaran et al., 2021).”
BackgroundMuris, P., Fernández‐Martínez, I., & Otgaar, H. (2024) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-024-00471-w · Cited by 36
“…with other affective disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder or depression), but at least the results suggest that young people with anxiety problems exhibit elevated levels of negative self-compassion, which could be an important target for a psychological intervention (Egan et al., 2022).”
BackgroundResultBreen, L. J., Greene, D., Rees, C. S., Black, A., Cawthorne, M., & Egan, S. J. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.032 · Cited by 39
Finlay‐jones, A. L., Parkinson, A., Sirois, F. M., Perry, Y., Boyes, M. E., & Rees, C. S. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/44016 · Cited by 34
“Among adolescents, meta-analytic evidence demonstrates large inverse effects for the relationship between self-compassion and distress [30], although experimental studies with this population are limited [31].”
BackgroundThe pattern theory of compassion
Gallagher, S., Raffone, A., & Aglioti, S. M. (2024) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.005 · Cited by 37
Metadata
- Authors
- Egan, S. J., Rees, C. S., Delalande, J., Greene, D., Fitzallen, G., Brown, S., Webb, M., & Finlay-Jones, A.
- Affiliations
- Curtin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Egan, Sarah J.
- Venue
- Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research
- Published
- 2021-09-24
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 385-403
- ISSN
- 0894-587X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3289
- PMC
- PMC9005396
- OpenAlex
- W3201325896
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 26
- FWCI
- 2.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- self-compassion, anxiety, depression, youth, self-compassion interventions, prevention, self-criticism, self-kindness, treatment engagement
- MeSH terms
- Self-Compassion, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Humans, Self-Assessment, Young Adult
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