Abstract
We investigated (i) the predictive relationships of compassion with negative emotionality (a marker of susceptibility to stress) and vital exhaustion (a marker of chronic stress response) and (ii) the effect of compassion on the developmental courses of negative emotionality and vital exhaustion over a follow-up from early adulthood to middle age. We used the prospective Young Finns data (n = 1031–1495, aged 20–50). Compassion was evaluated in 1997, 2001, and 2012; and vital exhaustion and negative emotionality in 2001, 2007, and 2012. The predictive paths from compassion to vital exhaustion and negative emotionality were stronger than vice versa: high compassion predicted lower vital exhaustion and lower negative emotionality. The effect of high compassion on lower vital exhaustion and lower negative emotionality was evident from early adulthood to middle age. Overall, high compassion appears to protect against dimensions of stress from early adulthood to middle age, whereas this study found no evidence that dimensions of stress could reduce disposition to feel compassion for others’ distress over a long-term follow-up.
Highlights
The widely used classification for mental disorders, DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition), lists stress responses as a crucial trigger for almost all psychiatric disorders (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2013)
The results showed that there was no difference in the statistical fit (p = 0.224) between Model 1 and Model 2
There were no significant interactions between compassion and age or age-squared, indicating that the effect of high compassion on lower vital exhaustion was evident over the whole age range
Summary
The widely used classification for mental disorders, DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition), lists stress responses as a crucial trigger for almost all psychiatric disorders (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2013). Stress responses predisposes to the incidence of a wide range of somatic diseases, such as coronary heart disease (Steptoe & Kivimäki, 2012), cancer (Chida et al, 2008), inflammatory diseases (Black, 2002), and gastrointestinal disorders (Mönnikes et al, 2001). A wide variety of stress-reducing interventions have been developed, ranging from practical life-style interventions (Merrill et al, 2007) to cognitive-behavioral therapies and hypnotic treatments (Bryant et al, 2005). An increasing amount of research has been directed to the development of compassion-cultivating interventions aiming to reduce stress Compassion includes an affective component (i.e. feeling concern for other’s distress) and a motivational component (i.e. the Motivation and Emotion (2021) 45:506–517 desire to alleviate other’s distress) (Gilbert, 2019; Goetz et al, 2010)
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