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Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress
Open accessAbstract
Meditation practices may impact physiological pathways that are modulated by stress and relevant to disease. While much attention has been paid to meditation practices that emphasize calming the mind, improving focused attention, or developing mindfulness, less is known about meditation practices that foster compassion. Accordingly, the current study examined the effect of compassion meditation on innate immune, neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress and evaluated the degree to which engagement in meditation practice influenced stress reactivity. Sixty-one healthy adults were randomized to 6 weeks of training in compassion meditation (n=33) or participation in a health discussion control group (n=28) followed by exposure to a standardized laboratory stressor (Trier social stress test [TSST]). Physiologic and behavioral responses to the TSST were determined by repeated assessments of plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 and cortisol as well as total distress scores on the Profile of Mood States (POMS). No main effect of group assignment on TSST responses was found for IL-6, cortisol or POMS scores. However, within the meditation group, increased meditation practice was correlated with decreased TSST-induced IL-6 (r(p)=-0.46, p=0.008) and POMS distress scores (r(p)=-0.43, p=0.014). Moreover, individuals with meditation practice times above the median exhibited lower TSST-induced IL-6 and POMS distress scores compared to individuals below the median, who did not differ from controls. These data suggest that engagement in compassion meditation may reduce stress-induced immune and behavioral responses, although future studies are required to determine whether individuals who engage in compassion meditation techniques are more likely to exhibit reduced stress reactivity.
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“Of the 14 studies with the highest quality ratings, 10 (71%) reported significant positive associations [437–443] or increased immune functions in response to a R/S intervention [444–447].”
From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [439]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Other forms of behavioral interventions that have been used for the treatment of fear-and anxiety-based disorder, such as community-based educational intervention, exercise, yoga, and mediation, have also been associated with decreases in inflammation (Bower and Irwin, 2016;Pace et al, 2009;Villablanca et al, 2015).”
From Inflammation in Fear- and Anxiety-Based Disorders: PTSD, GAD, and Beyond (2017) · cites this paper as Pace et al, 2009
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“While more recent studies have recognized the importance of using social evaluative threat as the stressor rather than a generic emotional film, scripts or slides, (Creswell et al., 2007; Pace et al., 2009; Weinstein et al., 2009), none were intervention studies with clinical samples.”
From Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Improves Emotional Reactivity to Social Stress: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial (2012) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“These results suggest that CM reduces stress-induced subjective distress and immune response.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Second, the CM was taught by a highly expert teacher and practitioner with many years of training, whereas the active control was taught by graduate students with certainly little expertise, training or even practice with the protocol.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“However, a major limitation of this study was that the stress test was administered after, rather than before, CM training. Therefore, it is possible that associations between CM practice time and outcome in the stress task might have been due to differences in participants’ stress response rather than due to the practice itself”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“First, they do not offer any clear alternative active psychological intervention procedure that has been practiced with the similar rigor of the CM.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“The groups showed no difference in plasma cortisol or interleukin-6 concentration.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Therefore, the active control condition is hardly better than a treatment-as-usual comparison.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“However, increased meditation practice was associated with decreased stress-induced interleukin-6 and subjective reports of distress in the meditation group.”
From Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions (2011) · cites this paper as Pace et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“as well as a reduction of interleukin-6 release in response to a psychosocial stressor [23].”
From Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game (2011) · cites this paper as [23]
In the citing paper
“The more time participants had actually spent training, the stronger the reduction in interleukin-6 release, suggesting a dose-dependent effect of compassion training.”
From Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game (2011) · cites this paper as [23]
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BackgroundBellinger, D. L., Berk, L., Koenig, H. G., Daher, N. S., Pearce, M., Robins, C. J., Nelson, B., Shaw, S. F., Cohen, H. J., & King, M. (2014) · Open Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4236/ojpsych.2014.44040 · Cited by 49
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“…as mindfulness based stress reduction, mindfulness based cognitive therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, compassion meditation, and compassion-focused therapy incorporate elements of self-compassion and empathy to produce positive health outcomes (Pace et al., 2009; Pauley & McPherson, 2010).”
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“There is some indication in the literature that other interventions such as compassion meditation (Pace et al., 2009), antidepressants (Hannestad, DellaGioia, & Bloch, 2011) and yoga (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2014), also decrease inflammatory cytokines.”
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“The instructor also had foundational training in Compassion-Focused Therapy [28], Cognitive-Based Compassion Training [29,30], and Mindful Self-Compassion [31].”
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BackgroundBenvenutti, M. J., Alves, E. D. S., Michael, S., Ding, D., Stamatakis, E., & Edwards, K. M. (2017) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.10.009 · Cited by 41
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BackgroundMeditation-induced neuroplastic changes in amygdala activity during negative affective processing
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“…that short-term mindfulness or compassion meditation training reduces behavioral and physiological responses of stress and anxiety (e.g., Hölzel et al., 2010; Pace et al., 2009, 2013; Serpa, Taylor, & Tillisch, 2014), and changes amygdala activity during emotion processing (Desbordes et al., 2012).”
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“Further, extant studies (Arch et al., 2014; Pace et al., 2009, 2010) have cultivated self-compassion prior to social stressors, yet such stressors may be difficult to anticipate in real-world settings.”
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“Loving-kindness meditation (LKM), an exercise derived from contemplative Buddhist traditions and aimed at increasing “prosocial feelings” toward ourselves and others, has been shown to increase feelings of social connection toward unfamiliar individuals on both explicit and implicit levels [199].”
Gender Differences in Psycho-Social-Spiritual Healing
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The Efficacy of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training for African American Suicide Attempters
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“This finding is in contrast to results from other studies of compassion- or mindfulness-based interventions in general (Hofmann et al. 2010) and CBCT specifically (Desbordes et al. 2012; Mascaro et al. 2013; Pace et al. 2008; Pace et al. 2013; Reddy et al. 2013).”
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Demorest, A. P. (2019) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1627399 · Cited by 37
“There is evidence that the length of an intervention influences its success (e.g. Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), and this has been found with compassion interventions in particular (e.g. Pace et al., 2009).”
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“For example, participants who engaged in a six-week compassion meditation training programme demonstrated reduced inflammatory responses and lessened levels of distress when subjected to a psychosocial stress test (Pace et al. 2009, 2010).”
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“…group effects (e.g., intervention group vs. control group), and only six studies noted that certain variables were not significant at the group level, but co-varied with amount of practice (Carson et al., 2005; Pace et al., 2009, 2013; Mascaro et al., 2013; Reddy et al., 2013; Dodds et al., 2015).”
BackgroundSaarinen, A. I. L., Keltikangas‐Järvinen, L., Pulkki-Råbäck, L., Cloninger, C. R., Elovainio, M. J., Lehtimäki, T. J., Raitakari, O. T., & Hintsanen, M. (2019) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1663251 · Cited by 35
“For example, there is evidence for a link between compassion and genetic factors (Jönsson et al., 2003; Pełka-Wysiecka et al., 2012), cardiovascular responses (e.g. heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia) (Kirby et al., 2017a; Stellar et al., 2016), and certain cytokines (Pace et al., 2009).”
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“Further, since CM represents a family of meditation practices, there may be substantial variability among different CM implementations (e.g., Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (Pace et al., 2009) may preferentially impact more cognitive processes).”
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“Compassion meditation both reduces psychological distress and improves immune function (Pace et al. 2009).”
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Compassion-focused therapy for trauma in people with intellectual disabilities: A conceptual review
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“Compassionate imagery and meditation have been shown to bolster immune function and stimulate areas of the prefrontal cortex linked to empathy, soothing and well-being (Lutz et al., 2008; Longe et al., 2010; Pace et al., 2009).”
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“Additionally, Pace et al. (2008) reported that participating in a six-week compassion meditation program led to reducing detrimental immune and behavioral effects caused by stress.”
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“Compassion meditation is also associated with reduction in stress-induced immune and behavioral response (Pace et al. 2009).”
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“Some studies have found a significant effects of practice, with greater practice of compassion strategies promoting more compassionate behavior (Leiberg et al. 2011) and greater practice of LKM increasing well-being (Fredrickson et al. 2008; Pace et al. 2009).”
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“For example, in an early study with college students who were randomized to CBCT or a health education condition, Pace et al. (2009) found that more time spent practicing CBCT meditations at home related to quicker return to baseline cortisol following a stressor as well as lower production of…”
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“Not surprisingly, a variety of compassion-based treatments have been created in the past few decades including Compassion-Focused Therapy (Gilbert, 2014); Mindful Self-Compassion (Neff & Germer, 2013); Compassion Cultivation Training (Jazaieri et al., 2013); Cognitively Based Compassion Training (Pace et al., 2009); C…”
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“In this sense, psychological stress is now widely accepted as an important trigger of inflammation and a major contributor to symptoms of chronic inflammatory disease (Pace et al., 2009; Rohleder, 2014; Steptoe et al., 2001; Weik et al., 2008).”
Expressive writing, self‐criticism, and self‐reassurance
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“These range from progressive muscle relaxation to hypnosis, and from relaxing music to compassion meditation, and have been shown to positively affect both physiological parameters such as cortisol levels or immune parameters, and psychological outcome measures such as perceived distress, self‐rated relaxation, anxiet…”
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“Likewise, other randomized controlled trials have documented reductions in proinflammatory cytokine activity following cognitive behavioural therapy [83] and meditation [84].”
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“The findings suggest that practicing mindful meditation may be one way to build resilience against disease through maintaining a healthy body and mind (Sudsuang et al., 1991; Pace et al., 2009; Lengacher et al., 2014; Turan et al., 2015; Alda et al., 2016; Álvarez-López et al., 2022).”
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“…in IL-6 concentrations in the circulation are highest 30 min to 2 h poststress (Edwards et al., 2006b; Mendham et al., 2011; Moldoveanu et al., 2000; Pace et al., 2006, 2009, 2010; Steptoe et al., 2001), which may explain the similarity in IL-6 concentrations after mental and physical stress.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Pace, T. W. W., Negi, L. T., Adame, D. D., Cole, S. P., Sivilli, T. I., Brown, T. D., Issa, M. J., & Raison, C. L.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Raison, Charles L.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 87-98
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2695992
- OpenAlex
- W2101119621
- Cited by
- 748
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 58 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 24.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000454)
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH064619)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025008, M01RR000039, M01-RR-0039)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- compassion meditation, psychosocial stress, stress reactivity, Trier Social Stress Test, interleukin-6, cortisol, innate immunity, neuroendocrine response
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Empathy, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Immunity, Innate, Male, Stress, Physiological, Stress, Psychological, Time Factors, Interleukin-6, Meditation, Young Adult
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