Objectives

The outbreak of contagious diseases and their associated non-pharmaceutical interventions can lead to negative mental health consequences. This study aimed to investigate online self-compassion exercises’ effectiveness in alleviating people’s negative affect (anxiety and negative emotions) during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Methods

Study 1 examined the associations between self-compassion and negative affect using an anonymous online survey. In study 2, two pilot experiments were conducted to examine online self-compassion exercises’ (i.e., instructor-guided meditation and self-guided writing) effectiveness to mitigate individuals’ negative affect. In study 3, a randomized controlled study was conducted to further examine online self-compassion writing’s effectiveness in reducing people’s negative affect.

Results

The results of study 1 indicated a significant negative association between self-compassion and participants’ negative affect. Participants in study 2a reported significant decreases in negative affect after completing the self-compassion meditation. Study 2b showed that participants who completed the self-compassion writing reported significantly more self-compassion and less anxiety when compared to participants who did not. Study 3 showed substantial pre/post-test changes in participants who completed self-compassion writing. Importantly, there were significant increases in participants’ self-compassion and decreases in negative affect when compared to participants in the control condition.

Conclusions

Self-compassion exercises were effective to alleviate individuals’ anxiety and reduce negative emotions (even within a brief session) during the pandemic lockdown.

中文翻译：

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社会疏离时代的自我同情与负面影响的减轻

目标

传染病的爆发及其相关的非药物干预可能导致负面的心理健康后果。本研究旨在调查在线自我同情练习在缓解 COVID-19 大流行锁定期间人们的负面影响（焦虑和负面情绪）方面的有效性。

方法

研究 1 使用匿名在线调查检查了自我同情和负面影响之间的关联。在研究 2 中，进行了两个试点实验，以检验在线自我同情练习（即教师指导的冥想和自我指导的写作）在减轻个人负面影响方面的有效性。在研究 3 中，进行了一项随机对照研究，以进一步检验在线自我同情写作在减少人们负面影响方面的有效性。

结果

研究 1 的结果表明，自我同情与参与者的负面情绪之间存在显着的负相关。研究 2a 的参与者报告说，在完成自我慈悲冥想后，负面影响显着减少。研究 2b 表明，与没有完成自我同情写作的参与者相比，完成自我同情写作的参与者报告的自我同情和焦虑更少。研究 3 显示完成自我同情写作的参与者在测试前/测试后发生了显着变化。重要的是，与控制条件下的参与者相比，参与者的自我同情心显着增加，负面影响减少。

结论

在大流行锁定期间，自我同情练习可有效缓解个人的焦虑并减少负面情绪（即使是在短暂的会话中）。