Health Benefits of (Mindful) Self-Compassion Meditation and the Potential Complementarity to Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Review of Randomized-Controlled Trials

Abstract

Background. This article systematically reviews methodologically rigorous randomized-controlled trials examining the health benefits of mindfulness and self-compassion interventions in medical and/ or mental health populations. Method. Searches were conducted on PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science in March 2018. Out of 2427 results (276 for Self-compassion interventions), 47 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and nine publications were selected for self-compassion-based interventions (SCBIs). However, most of these did not fulfill one-two of the inclusion criteria but was still included because of the limited amount of articles and because of their otherwise important findings. Results. Current evidence demonstrated that MBIs improved multiple psychological (e.g. improved quality of life and psychosocial outcomes) and some physiological outcomes (e.g. decreased fatigue, improvements in the management of substance abuse) in various medical and mental health populations. SCBIs found several psychological and clinical improvements in non-clinical populations as well as women with body image concerns, patients diagnosed with SSD, BED, Paranoid Ideation and Diabetes. Conclusion. We propose that MBIs today have proven substantial evidence as being advantageous in terms of being an effective and cost-effective group treatment for various medical and mental health populations in multiple psychological and physical health domains. Although there is cause for optimism regarding the effects of SCBI’s, additional research on SCBIs is still needed before a mature conclusion can be drawn about their health benefits in these populations, together with whether the interventions are better combined.