AUTHOR=Andersson Christina , Mellner Christin , Lilliengren Peter , Einhorn Stefan , Bergsten Katja Lindert , Stenström Emma , Osika Walter 

TITLE=Cultivating Compassion and Reducing Stress and Mental Ill-Health in Employees—A Randomized Controlled Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748140

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.748140

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Stress and mental ill-health carry considerable costs for both individuals and organizations. Although interventions targeting compassion and self-compassion have been shown to reduce stress and benefit mental health, related research in organizational settings is limited. We investigated the effects of a 6-week psychological intervention utilizing compassion training on stress, mental health, and self-compassion. Forty-nine employees of two organizations were randomly assigned to either the intervention (<italic>n</italic> = 25) or a physical exercise control condition (<italic>n</italic> = 24). Multilevel growth models showed that stress (<italic>p</italic> = 0.04) and mental ill-health (<italic>p</italic> = 0.02) decreased over 3 months in both groups (pre-intervention to follow-up: Cohen’s <italic>d</italic> = −0.46 and <italic>d</italic> = 0.33, respectively), while self-compassion only increased in the intervention group (<italic>p</italic> = 0.03, between group <italic>d</italic> = 0.53). There were no significant effects on life satisfaction in any of the groups (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.53). The findings show promising results regarding the ability of compassion training within organizations to decrease stress and mental ill-health and increase self-compassion.</p>