Self-compassion Modulates Autonomic and Psychological Responses to Stress among Adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorders

Lijun Sun ¹ Xuejun Qi ¹ Xi Luo ² Ying Wang ³ Xianwei Che ³ Yonghui Shen ^1*

• ¹ Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
• ² School of Nursing, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
• ³ Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

Background Self-compassion is associated with emotional well-being, yet its benefits in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients remain unclear. This study investigated the impact of self-compassion on emotional and physiological stress responses in individuals diagnosed with GAD.Methods Seventy-seven GAD patients were categorized into high (n = 39) and low (n = 38) self-compassion groups using the Self-Compassion Scale. Electrocardiograms were recorded during a stress-inducing task, in which negative feedback was provided on personal intelligence and career development. Participants reported state anxiety and perceived stress pre-and post-task.When exposed to a stressor, individuals with higher self-compassion had lower heart rates (t (75) = -2.06, p = 0.043), higher heart rate variability (t (75) = 2.73, p = 0.04), and lower anxiety (t (75) = -2.07, p = 0.041) compared to the lower self-compassion group. Moreover, heart rate variability was negatively correlated with anxiety across patients (r = -0.31, df = 75, p = 0.03).These results highlight the role of self-compassion in managing psychological and physiological responses to stress in GAD patients and indicate the potential of self-compassion interventions in GAD treatments.