The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Current and Future Role of Heart Rate Variability for Assessing and Training Compassion
Open accessAbstract
The evolution of mammalian caregiving involving hormones, such as oxytocin, vasopressin, and the myelinated vagal nerve as part of the ventral parasympathetic system, enables humans to connect, co-regulate each other's emotions and create prosociality. Compassion-based interventions draw upon a number of specific exercises and strategies to stimulate these physiological processes and create conditions of "interpersonal safeness," thereby helping people engage with, alleviate, and prevent suffering. Hence, compassion-based approaches are connected with our evolved caring motivation and attachment and our general affiliative systems that help regulate distress. Physiologically, they are connected to activity of the vagus nerve and corresponding adaptive heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is an important physiological marker for overall health, and the body-mind connection. Therefore, there is significant value of training compassion to increase HRV and training HRV to facilitate compassion. Despite the significance of compassion in alleviating and preventing suffering, there remain difficulties in its precise assessment. HRV offers a useful form of measurement to assess and train compassion. Specific examples of what exercises can facilitate HRV and how to measure HRV will be described. This paper argues that the field of compassion science needs to move toward including HRV as a primary outcome measure in its future assessment and training, due to its connection to vagal regulatory activity, and its link to overall health and well-being.
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“Recent studies on compassion using alternate forms of measurement, for example physiological measures such as heart-rate variability, provide important additional data to this debate [124–129].”
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 [126]
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Cites
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 2×
“For example, trait self-compassion, measured by the Self-Compassion Scale (37) was found to be correlated to resting HRV and an increase in parasympathetic nervous system tone (43).”
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“Indeed, there are times when high sympathetic tone is desired, for example, when helping to target states of helplessness (14).”
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“Each of these approaches have been examined in randomized controlled trials, with early findings indicating compassion-based interventions are a promising intervention to help increase well-being and reduce suffering (28).”
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“Furthermore, in CFT a focus of intervention is to help improve safeness for the client, and although this is hypothesized to generally be associated with higher HRV, it may also help a client feel empowered and give them confidence to challenge themselves, which could be linked to a higher resting sympathetic tone.”
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“The assessment methods used in compassion training relies predominantly on self-report measures, such as the Self-Compassion Scale (37), and a recent review that critically examined the assessment measures for compassion concluded that self-report questionnaires assessing compassion have serious psychometric weaknesse…”
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“To date, there have been several cross-sectional studies demonstrating lower levels of HRV in conditions, such as depression (39), anxiety (40), rumination (41), and self-criticism (42).”
BackgroundSoftware for advanced HRV analysis
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Research works printed but not linked: 9
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Healy, K. L., Payne, K., & Kirby, J. N. (2024) · Australian Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/03128962241270860 · Cited by 8
“The aim of CFT is to cultivate compassion and, although not measured here, greater levels of compassion and lower fears of compassion are significantly associated with better physiological health, as measured by parasympathetic activity (Di Bello et al., 2020; Kirby et al., 2017a).”
Self-citationMalik, L. (2024) · Journal of Applied Consciousness Studies · doi:10.4103/jacs.jacs_139_23 · Cited by 7
Physiological response to self-compassion versus relaxation in a clinical population
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“Compassion interventions aim to increase parasympathetic activity and decrease sympathetic activity though giving/receiving care, and therefore HRV offers a useful form of measurement to assess the effectiveness of compassion focused interventions [39].”
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Self-citationAn Exploration of Compassion Focused Therapy for Grieving Individuals
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Moloney-Gibb, D., Sherwell, C. S., Lynn, S., & Kirby, J. N. (2026) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2026.105028 · Cited by 3
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Better together than alone? Investigating dyadic compassion meditation in an experimental study
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“…HRV with RMSSD as a speci fi c indicator of vagal tone (Laborde et al., 2017), it is essential to acknowledge that capturing vagal tone and emotion regulation via HRV is complex (Di Bello et al., 2021; Kirby et al., 2017) and a multimethod assessment of should be considered in future research.”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialCardiac autonomic flexibility is associated with higher emotional intelligence
Prajapati, V., Routray, A., & Guha, R. (2020) · Cogent Psychology · doi:10.1080/23311908.2020.1870809 · Cited by 2
“(Steinmetz et al., 2016) (Di Simplicio et al., 2012) (Kirby et al., 2017) Our second hypothesis was supported.”
Mernagh, M., Baird, K., & Guérin, S. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01417-3 · Cited by 4
The Evolution of Pro-social Behavior
Gilbert, P. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108131797.035 · Cited by 6
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“Instead, they also require developing the strength and courage to observe and remain with suffering, which can activate the alert system in order to respond skillfully (Kirby et al. 2017a).”
InfluentialKamboj, S. K., Peniket, M. J., Norman, J., Robshaw, R., Soni-Tricker, A., Falconer, C. J., Gilbert, P., & Simeonov, L. (2025) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291725101013 · Cited by 2
“They also support theoretical and empirical claims that the vagus nerve has a central role in compassionate responding (Di Bello et al., 2020; Kirby, Doty, Petrocchi, & Gilbert, 2017; Petrocchi, Di Bello, Cheli, & Ottaviani, 2022; Petrocchi & Ottaviani, 2024; Sherwell & Kirby, 2024; Stellar &…”
Self-citationCarvalho, S. A., Eulálio, I., & Guiomar, R. (2025) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112205 · Cited by 17
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“Compassion is a useful target in psychotherapy and mental health programs, with growing evidence supporting compassion-based interventions (Kirby et al., 2017b).”
Promoting Workplace Mental Health for Hospital Social Workers Using Compassionate Mind Training
Tay, P. L., Kerk, E. L., Lau, M. M., & Goh, S. N. (2024) · OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2404064 · Cited by 1
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An Examination of the Orienting and Defensive Responses Using HR and HF-HRV
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Self-citationNeurobiology of Social Capacities: The Building Blocks of Friendship
Tarsha, M. S. (2022) · Peace Review · doi:10.1080/10402659.2022.2094200 · Cited by 1
“As such, there is a recent movement to include more vagal tone metrics in compassion science studies (Kirby et al. 2017).”
BackgroundHow One Experiences and Embodies Compassionate Mind Training Influences Its Effectiveness
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Self-citationPizzoli, S. F. M., & Gatti, D. (2026) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-026-02996-3
Kurosawa, T., Adachi, K., & Takizawa, R. (2026) · Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/aphw.70201
“This aligns with previous research that connects compassion-related processes with HRV and vagal function (di Bello et al., 2020; Kirby et al., 2017) and suggests that self-compassion interventions could lead to more favorable autonomic responses to stress than mindfulness-based approaches (Qi et…”
A kötődés szerepe az egészséges idősödésben
Tesch, D., Poós, A., Szita, G., & Balog, P. (2026) · Orvosi Hetilap · doi:10.1556/650.2026.33538
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“…relation (≤ 1 year) between self-compassion and depressive symptoms including biological (e.g., heart rate variability; Arch et al., 2014; Kirby et al., 2017; Svendsen et al., 2016), cognitive (e.g., attention, rumination, fear of compassion; Krieger et al., 2013; Melsom et al., 2023;…”
Wang, X., Yao, Q., & Jiang, H. (2025) · BMC Nursing · doi:10.1186/s12912-025-03656-y
Hackley, J., Dixon, A., Royle, C., Moss, C., Brown, R. J., & Bell, T. (2024) · OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2401021
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The Sciencization of Compassion
Stenzel, J. (2020) · Journal of Dharma Studies · doi:10.1007/s42240-020-00084-w
“2017, 159–188), the heart rate variability (Kirby et al. 2017; Rockliff et al. 2008), and other phenomena, suggesting that compassion is an effective remedy for stress relief (Pace et al.”
BackgroundUkrainian adaptation of the "Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale" (npss)
Romanovska, D., Lytvyn, S., & Malysheva, K. (2024) · Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Psychology · doi:10.17721/bpsy.2024.1(19).8
Compassion for Everyday Living
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Geben macht glücklicher und ist gesünder als Nehmen
Spitzer, M. (2017) · Nervenheilkunde · doi:10.1055/s-0038-1627032
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“An example of such a phenomenon might be a doctor who has high standards and can show extremely high levels of compassion towards others, but none towards themselves (Kirby & Gilbert, 2017).”
Influential
Metadata
- Authors
- Kirby, J. N., Doty, J. R., Petrocchi, N., & Gilbert, P.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Stanford University (US)
- John Cabot University (IT)
- University of Derby (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kirby, James N.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2017-03-08
- Volume
- 5
- Pages
- 40-40
- ISSN
- 2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5340770
- OpenAlex
- W2593026410
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 11
- FWCI
- 13.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Derby Online Research Archive. (University of Derby) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
- Keywords
- heart rate variability, compassion, compassion training, vagus nerve, vagal regulation, oxytocin, vasopressin, prosocial behavior, well-being
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