Abstract
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 (n = 25) or a physical exercise control condition (n = 24). Multilevel growth models showed that stress (p = 0.04) and mental ill-health (p = 0.02) decreased over 3 months in both groups (pre-intervention to follow-up: Cohen’s d = −0.46 and d = 0.33, respectively), while self-compassion only increased in the intervention group (p = 0.03, between group d = 0.53). There were no significant effects on life satisfaction in any of the groups (p > 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.
Highlights
The global increase in stress and mental ill-health has been put forth as one of the major sustainability challenges for the future, and the global goals for sustainable development include the objective to “promote mental health” (United Nations, 2020 Agenda for sustainable development)
The present study investigated the effects of a psychological intervention utilizing compassion training on stress, mental ill-health, life satisfaction, and self-compassion among employees of two Swedish organizations
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a psychological intervention based on compassion training, compared with an active control group treatment program of physical exercise, on employees’ stress, mental health, and life satisfaction
Summary
The global increase in stress and mental ill-health has been put forth as one of the major sustainability challenges for the future, and the global goals for sustainable development include the objective to “promote mental health” (United Nations, 2020 Agenda for sustainable development). In Sweden the cost of stress (SOU, 2019:5) is high in many organizations, and stress-related mental ill-health is a leading cause of long-term sick-leave (Swedish Social Insurance Agency, 2020). Both compassion which is directed toward others and self-compassion have shown associations with reduced stress (Pace et al, 2009; Breines et al, 2014); lower levels of mental ill-health (MacBeth and Gumley, 2012; Muris and Petrocchi, 2016; Homan and Sirois, 2017; Matos et al, 2017; Wilson et al, 2019); and increased well-being (Zessin et al, 2015).
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