Using group-based interactive video teleconferencing to make self-compassion more accessible: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: Many interventions designed to increase self-compassion are either (1) intense, group-based, and face-to-face delivered programs, such as Mindful Self-Compassion, or (2) less intense, self-administered interventions, such as self-compassionate writing or following guided meditations. This study explores if self-compassion can be increased in a novel intervention that is both intense and accessible using online group-based interactive video teleconferencing. Method: One-hundred-fifty-five healthy participants (130 women, 25 men) were randomized to a wait-list control group or to an intervention group that participated in two online workshops (via Zoom) and completed a self-compassionate writing exercise. Participants filled out the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) before, directly after, and 1-week after the intervention. We assessed overall self-compassion, in addition to its six constituent subfactors: self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification. We analyzed all results using an intent-to-treat approach. In addition, participants’ impressions and feasibility of the intervention were assessed. Results: Using linear mixed models, we found that the intervention increased total self-compassion as indicated by a significant interaction of Time and Treatment, F(2, 203.38) = 5.47, p = .005, with a small-to-medium effect, f = 0.22. Contrasts indicated significant differences between the intervention and the control group at the 1-week follow-up, but not directly after the intervention. We found similar effects for self-kindness, common humanity, and isolation. Qualitative answers indicated that participants liked the intervention and were pleased with the opportunity to interact with other participants. Conclusions: Self-compassion can be trained using interactive video teleconferencing interventions. The study highlights the potential benefits of group-based interventions as they allow for more interactions among participants, which in turn could reduce feelings of isolation. Finally, interactive video teleconferencing interventions have large unexplored potential for improving various resources that improve mental health or other facets of well-being other than self-compassion and this article gives recommendations for how to structure such interventions.