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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1548320
Participants' Evaluation of an Internet-Based Group Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) Program for Young People in Sweden
Provisionally accepted- 1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten, Sweden
- 2 Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Västerbotten, Sweden
- 3 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Online group compassion-focused therapy (CFT) has not been thoroughly studied in young people, and the participants' perspectives on the treatment are highly relevant. A seven-session internet-based group CFT program was evaluated for young people aged 15-20 (n = 42, females = 37). A self-report evaluation questionnaire, specifically designed for this study, was administered post-intervention. The current study investigated: 1) Potential factors influencing the treatment program goals (increase self-compassion, reduce self-criticism and increase affect-regulation abilities) and the participants' overall experience of the treatment; and 2) The effect each intervention exercise had on the program goals according to the participants' ratings. Participants generally reported high satisfaction and had a high attendance rate. Only 2.4% of the participants completed less than half of the sessions and 71% of the participants attended at least six of the seven sessions. Exercises that integrated traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) principles received high ratings, whereas breathing and mindfulness exercises were rated lower in many cases. Several compassion exercises were also highly rated, such as the Threat-drive and security system, based on CFT affect-regulation theory. The majority did not find home assignments helpful. The findings suggest that internet-based group CFT could be an easily accessible and acceptable intervention for young people in primary care, though further research is warranted.
Keywords: Compassion1, young people2, stress3, depression4, anxiety5 group psychotherapy6, internet-based psychotherapy7
Received: 19 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vestin, Jokinen, Blomqvist and Dennhag. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Magnus Vestin, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, 90187, Västerbotten, Sweden
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