The DOI matches its Crossref record; 89 of the 90 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The ‘Flow’ of compassion: A meta-analysis of the fears of compassion scales and psychological functioning
Abstract
This meta-analysis examined the associations between the fears of compassion and mental health. We extracted 19 studies reporting 154 effect sizes (Pearson's r) from 22 independent samples published during the last seven years, with data from 4723 participants. All studies used the Fears of Compassion Scales (FCS), which includes three subscales; fears of compassion for self, for others, and receiving from others. Specific mental health outcomes included: depression; anxiety; distress; and well-being, as well as the psychological vulnerability factors of self-criticism and shame. The overall association between the three FCS subscales and mental health difficulties was .49, .30 and .48 for fears of self-compassion, fears of compassion for others, and fears of compassion from others, respectively. Across mental health domains and vulnerability factors, pooled effect sizes ranged between r = .13 and .55 (in absolute value), with the strongest associations found between the mental health variables of shame, self-criticism, and depression, and the FCS subscales of fears of self-compassion and fears of receiving compassion. Moderator analyses were also conducted, including, age, gender, publication status, and sample (clinical vs. non-clinical). Overall, clinical populations demonstrated significantly stronger associations between mental health difficulties and fears of self-compassion, relative to non-clinical populations.
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“Results can also be understood in the context of research on fears of compassion, in which fear of receiving compassion has a stronger association with mental health outcomes than fears of being compassionate to others [37].”
From Validation of the compassionate engagement and action scales, compassion scale, and Sussex-Oxford compassion scales in a French-Canadian sample (2024) · cites this paper as [37]
In the citing paper
“A meta-analysis found that fear of compassion was more strongly related to reduced mental health in clinical populations compared to non-clinical populations (Kirby et al., 2019), and thus targeting these processes in therapy may be relevant.”
From Group-based compassion-focused therapy for prolonged grief symptoms in adults – Results from a randomized controlled trial (2022) · cites this paper as Kirby et al., 2019
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“Such fears, including the belief that self-compassion leads to rejection or vulnerability, are consistently associated with various mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression, and even psychosis (Kirby et al., 2019; Martins et al., 2017).”
Gnatt, I., Mackelprang, J. L., Phillipou, A., & Nedeljkovic, M. (2025) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2025.100946
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“21 In exploring the psychological dimensions of breast cancer, it is crucial to consider fear of receiving compassion, which, for instance, can manifest in a patient ’ s reluctance to disclose their diagnosis to family and friends.”
Carbon, M. F., & Salvaña, R. A. (2026) · Psychology and Education A Multidisciplinary Journal · doi:10.70838/pemj.511002
Introduction to Compassion Focused Therapy
Kotera, Y., Beaumont, J., Colman, R. D., Rushforth, A., & Asano, K. (2026) · Advances in mental health and addiction · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12438-8_1
Cultural Adaptation of Compassion Focused Therapy to East Asian Culture
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Beaumont, J. (2026) · Advances in mental health and addiction · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-12438-8_9
Development and Validation of the Parental Fears of Compassion Scale among Chinese Parents
Guo, M., Liu, K.-J., Kirby, J. N., Day, J., Huang, Y.-F., & Lin, Z. (2026) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-026-02824-8
“In addition, compared with fear of self-compassion and fear of compassion from others, fear of compassion for others is weakly associated with psychological dysfunction (Kirby et al., 2019a).”
Self-citationAdapting compassionate mind training into guided self‐help for parents of autistic children
Kemp, F. G., Hudson, M., Schroder, T. A., & Gale, C. (2026) · Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1111/papt.70060 · Cited by 1
“Fears of compassion (Gilbert et al., 2011) can be marked within highly self-critical groups (Kirby, Day, & Sagar, 2019; Merritt & Purdon, 2020), particularly if people have experienced traumatic, abusive or neglectful backgrounds (Gilbert & Procter, 2006; Matos et al., 2017; Winders et al., 2020).”
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“Conversely, fear of compassion from others contributes to elevated psychological distress and worse psychological functioning (Gilbert et al., 2011; Kirby et al., 2019).”
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“In the FC-for Self, the significant reductions observed in both inter - vention groups align with recent evidence by Kirby et al. ( 2019 ) and Halamová et al. ( 2021 ), which emphasizes the efficacy of process-oriented interventions in disman - tling defensive self-compassion.”
Initial Study of an Interaction System to Motivate Self-compassion Practice
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Xia, H., Coundouris, S. P., Elliott, T. C., Baghaei, N., Oestreich, L., Greig, L., Sherwell, C. S., Henry, J. D., & Kirby, J. N. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.105768
Self-citation"You inevitably blame yourself": Autistic Adults' Experiences of Self-Compassion
Hartley, G., Sirois, F. M., & Purrington, J. (2026) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-026-02934-3
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“Moreover, cultivating self‐compassion may be particularly challenging for patients with cancer: individuals experiencing severe distress often fear or resist directing compassion toward themselves [20].”
Atasayar, T., Demirci, A. D., Karaçar, Y., & Kabukçuoğlu, K. (2026) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-026-10000-3
“These findings are consistent with Gilbert’s conceptualization of compassion as a dynamic interpersonal system, in which the three compassion flows mutually influence one another rather than operating as isolated processes (Gilbert, 2014; Kirby et al., 2019; Sahdra et al., 2023).”
Henry, F., Aguerre, C., Micalet, P., Martiné, G., Espagne-Dubreuilh, G., Wood, C. H., & Rozette, M. (2026) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2026.113017
Exploring callousness as disengagement from suffering: development of a new self-report scale
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Franken, K., Westerhof, G. J., ten Klooster, P. M., & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2026) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/capr.70243
Parola, G., Martínez, A. J., Colombo, D., Etchemendy, E., Baños, R., & Wrzesien, M. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10380539/v1
Rousan, M. J., McGonigle, T., Muscatello, R. A., Vandekar, S., & Corbett, B. (2026) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-026-07588-7
Metadata
- Authors
- Kirby, J. N., Day, J., & Sagar, V.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Kirby, James N.
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-06
- Volume
- 70
- Pages
- 26-39
- ISSN
- 0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2922505176
- Cited by
- 232
- References
- 90
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 3.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NOVA (University of Newcastle Australia) (submittedVersion)
- 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 › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- self-compassion, compassion for others, depression, anxiety, psychological distress, well-being, shame, self-criticism, psychological vulnerability
- MeSH terms
- Psychological Distress, Anxiety, Depression, Empathy, Fear, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Self Concept, Shame, Social Behavior
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