Self-Compassion, Physical Health, and Health Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis
Abstract
This meta-analysis investigated relationships between self-compassion and (1) physical health and (2) health-promoting behaviour in a large pooled sample (N = 29,588) sourced from 94 peer-reviewed articles. As hypothesised, omnibus analyses revealed positive associations between self-compassion and both physical health (r = .18) and health behaviour (r = .26). Moderation analyses using 290 effects found that both associations varied according to health domain, participant age, intervention duration, and self-compassion measure. Self-compassion predicted outcomes in most health domains, with the strongest effects observed on global physical health, functional immunity, composite health behaviour, sleep, and danger avoidance. It did not predict frailty, maladaptive bodily routines, and substance abuse. Multi-session interventions designed to boost self-compassion predicted increased physical health and health behaviour, thereby supporting causal links between self-compassion and health outcomes. The effects of single-session inductions were non-significant. The mean effect of self-compassion on physical health was non-significant for young participants (12.00–19.99) and its effect on health behaviour was weakest among older participants (40.00+). Results support the proposition that self-compassion can promote better physical health. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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Self-compassion is associated with adaptive coping and emotional stability and contributes to predicting health and well-being in chronic illness contexts.
“Yet, it is possible that it is related to positive reframing of negative events; indeed, it is associated with adaptive coping [77,78] and emotional stability [79] and it contributes to predicting health and well-being also in chronic illness contexts [80,81].”
From The Role of Emotion-Related Abilities in the Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [81]
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- Authors
- Phillips, W. J., & Hine, D. W.
- Affiliations
- University of New England (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Phillips, Wendy J.
- Venue
- Health Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-12-22
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 113-139
- ISSN
- 1743-7199 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-7202
- OpenAlex
- W2995869527
- Cited by
- 224
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 1.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RUNE (Research UNE) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, psychology, and well-being
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Wellbeing Research
- Keywords
- self-compassion, physical health, health behavior, health-promoting behaviours, functional immunity, sleep, danger avoidance, frailty, substance abuse, self-compassion interventions, age differences
- MeSH terms
- Empathy, Humans, Health Behavior
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