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

Abstract

Background: In this study, we performed a systematic review of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) examining the health benefits of (mindful) self-compassion-based interventions (SCBIs) and studies which explicitly combine SCBIs and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Based on the compelling evidence supporting the effectiveness of MBIs, we evaluated the potential use of MBIs and SCBIs to complement one another, and whether SCBIs may serve as supplementary, or preliminary interventions for individuals not fully benefitting from MBIs. Methods: Searches of the PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science databases were conducted from March to July 2018. Of 324 results for SCBIs, nine publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Results: Current evidence demonstrates that SCBIs achieve several psychological and clinical improvements in a variety of outcomes and populations, although primarily based on studies of females. Significant improvements included increased self-compassion and body-satisfaction in populations ranging from non-clinical female participants to clinical improvements in participants diagnosed with diabetes, binge-eating disorder and schizophrenia. The only study that explicitly combined MBIs and SCBIs showed significantly increased quality-of-life as well as a decrease in psychopathological symptoms in an all-female sample with overweight and obesity. Conclusions: Although there is cause for optimism regarding the effects of SCBIs, additional methodologically rigorous RCT studies of the effects of these programs are still needed before a mature conclusion can be drawn about their health benefits. While we found preliminary evidence that self-compassion training may enhance improvements in MBIs for highly self-critical individuals, there is still too little evidence to draw any conclusions on the effectiveness of teaching SCBIs as an adjunct or as an introduction to MBIs. Future research should continue to examine SCBIs and investigate strategies to develop MBIs and SCBIs as newer, improved interventions.