The role of compassion in moral injury among military veterans: Implications for treatment.

OBJECTIVES: The study investigated the relationship between psychological distress, alcohol use, the three fears of compassion (i.e., to self, from others, and to others), facilitators and inhibitors of compassion (self-reassurance, shame, and self-criticizing), and the three flows of compassion (to self, to others, and from others) on moral injury (MI) in military veterans. METHOD: A total of 127 participants (81.9% male, Mage = 51.24, SD = 13.98) completed measures of MI, psychological distress, alcohol use, shame, fears of compassion, self-criticizing and self-reassurance, and the three flows of compassion. Bivariate correlations and a hierarchical multiple regression were conducted to determine relationships between psychological distress, alcohol use, and the facets of compassion and MI, and whether psychological distress, alcohol use, and the facets of compassion predicted MI among veterans. RESULTS: Demographic variables of younger age and lower rank alongside psychological distress, alcohol use, and the facets of compassion were all significantly related to MI in veterans. Age, rank, psychological distress, alcohol use, and the facets of compassion did not predict MI in veterans. However, shame was found to be the biggest predictor of MI in veterans, followed by lower rank. CONCLUSION: The study supports prior research indicating MI as a shame-based presentation with younger age and lower rank posing as risk factors for MI in veterans. Additionally, the findings indicate strong relationships between the facets of compassion and MI in veterans, highlighting the potential clinical utility of including compassion within MI-based interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Compassion-based interventions in Asian communities: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

PURPOSE: Practising compassion increases well-being and reduces depression, anxiety, and psychological distress among clinical and non-clinical populations. There is a rapid increase in compassion-based interventions within the past two decades. However, the reviews are limited to predominantly Western cultures. Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the literature attempting to promote and increase compassion in Asian communities. METHOD: Eight randomised controlled trials (RCTs) conducted between 2016 to 2021 were included in the meta-analysis with data from 1012 participants across Thailand, Japan, China and Hong Kong. Effect sizes were calculated to test the efficacy of the compassion-based interventions on the self-compassion outcome. Intervention efficacy was tested by comparing the intervention groups against control groups (wait-list control and active control groups) at pre- and post-interventions. RESULTS: Significant between-group differences in change scores were found on self-report measures of self-compassion with large effect sizes in interventions with wait-list control groups (d = .86) and small effect sizes in interventions with active-control groups (d = .19). CONCLUSIONS: Although compassion-based interventions are heterogeneous in nature and limited in scope, there is promising evidence of improving self-compassion in Asian communities. This supports for the cross-cultural applicability of compassion-based interventions. However, research within the Asian context is limited and at an infancy stage, signifying the importance of conducting further compassion-based interventions in clinical and non-clinical groups living in the Asian communities.

Exploring the Cross-cultural Applicability of a Brief Compassionate Mind Training: a Study Comparing Sri Lankan and UK People.

Objectives: Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) is a therapeutic approach proven to be effective for reducing distress and increasing well-being in clinical and non-clinical populations. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of a short-term, online version of the CMT on compassion, distress, and well-being in a cross-cultural, non-clinical sample of Sri Lankan and UK people. Method: A randomized controlled trial with pre-, post-measurements, and a 2-week follow-up was conducted using CMT (n = 21 Sri Lankan, n = 73 UK) and wait-list control (n = 17 Sri Lankan, n = 54 UK) groups. The intervention effects were investigated using a series of repeated-measures ANOVAs using intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses. Results: The 2-week CMT was effective in increasing all aspects of compassion in both Sri Lankan and UK people. In addition, some cross-cultural similarities and differences (in the factors affecting compassion) were present in the improvements following CMT between the two countries, which were maintained at a 2-week follow-up. Conclusion: This study provides promising evidence for the efficacy and cross-cultural applicability of CMT for reducing distress and increasing well-being.

A cross-cultural exploration of compassion, and facilitators and inhibitors of compassion in UK and Sri Lankan people.

Background: Practising compassion has shown to increase well-being and reduce distress in people across cultures. However, very little research has explored cultural differences in different facets of compassion with a dearth of research evident especially in the Asian context. Several inhibitors and facilitators of compassion have been identified although the nuances of cultural differences of these remain unexploited. This study aimed to discover cross-cultural similarities and differences of the levels of compassion, facilitators and inhibitors of compassion between Sri Lankan and UK people. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based quantitative research was conducted among 149 Sri Lankan and 300 UK participants. Individual predictors (such as fears of compassion, self-reassurance, external shame, social safeness and pleasure, depression and anxiety) were also explored in relation to compassion, compassion to others, and compassion from others in each group. Results: The results indicated that Sri Lankan participants were more self-reassured and self-compassionate and self-identifying as a Buddhist predicted higher self-compassion, when compared to UK participants. However, Sri Lankan participants reported higher levels of external shame and fear of compassion not just towards themselves, but also towards and from others, indicating difficulty in engaging compassionately with others. In contrast, UK participants reported higher social safeness, indicating that they were more likely to feel safe and soothed by the society than the Sri Lankan participants. Conclusions: Society plays a pivotal role in shaping one's experiences of compassion. This study suggests that specific cultural and social factors should be considered when implementing Western compassionate approaches to non-Western settings.

Views and experiences of compassion in Sri Lankan students: An exploratory qualitative study.

Practicing compassion has shown to reduce distress and increase emotional well-being in clinical and non-clinical populations. The existing research is primarily focused on Western populations although the concepts of compassion are heavily influenced by Asian Buddhist views. There is a dearth of compassion research conducted particularly in the Asian context. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the views and lived experiences of compassion in Sri Lankan students, to understand whether compassion is a socially embraced construct in Sri Lanka, considering that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist influenced society. Participants' views and lived experiences of compassion towards themselves and to/from others were also investigated, with a specific focus on their perceived inhibitors and facilitators of compassion. Aims were set to identify whether Western compassion-based practices could be successfully applied to Asian societies such as Sri Lanka. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach was used to obtain and analyse qualitative data from a convenience sample of 10 Sri Lankan students, recruited from a Psychology course. The phenomenological analysis of the semi-structured face-to-face interviews elicited three predominant themes: What compassion means to me, what I make of it, and compassion through facilitators and inhibitors. The findings suggested that participants shared a similar understanding of the concept of compassion as reflected in the Western definitions. Experiences and views of compassion were shaped by several factors including religion, culture, society, and upbringing. In general, this study revealed that participants were well aware of the concept of compassion as well as its impact on their psychological well-being. Despite this, inhibitors existed in experiencing compassion. The religious and collectivistic-cultural influences need to be further explored and taken into account when implementing Western compassion-based practices to non-Western contexts such as Sri Lanka.

Using implementation intentions to overcome the effects of social anxiety on attention and appraisals of performance.

The present research examines whether forming implementation intentions can help people with social anxiety to control their attention and make more realistic appraisals of their performance. In Experiment 1, socially anxious participants (relative to less anxious participants) exhibited an attentional bias toward social threat words in a Visual Dot Probe task. However, socially anxious participants who formed implementation intentions designed to control attention did not exhibit this bias. Using a spatial cuing task, Experiment 2 showed that forming implementation intentions also promoted rapid disengagement from threatening stimuli. Experiment 3 ruled out the possibility that implementation intentions were effective merely because they provided additional goal-relevant information. In Experiment 4, participants gave a speech and subsequently rated their performance. Forming implementation intentions prevented the underestimation of performance that characterizes socially anxious individuals. Together, the findings suggest that forming implementation intentions may provide an effective means of handling self-regulatory problems in social anxiety.