Abstract
Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent in modern societies and negatively linked to various health outcomes. While previous research has demonstrated preliminary evidence for self-compassion as a tool for improving sleep quality, this review provides a meta-analysis of respective published and unpublished results of our own research group using German samples. A total of nine studies are included (N = 956 participants), consisting of both correlational and experimental data. Across these studies, there was a medium correlation between self-compassion and subjective sleep quality, r = 0.303, 95% CI (0.244; 0.360). In three experimental studies, a small increase in participants’ self-reported sleep quality emerged, in comparison to control conditions, Hedges’ s g = 0.484, 95% CI (0.148; 0.821). Limitations on study level concern both the small sample sizes and short-term analyses of intervention effects. As a conclusion, this review supports both the correlational and causal relationship between self-compassion and increased subjective sleep quality across diverse operationalizations and samples. Future research should focus on the moderating effects of intervention type, duration of intervention effects, and type of target population.
Highlights
Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent—depending on the insomnia definition, estimates range from 6% to 33% in the general population [1]
Due to the heterogeneity of insomnia definitions, we use the term poor sleep quality in the given work to refer to self-reported insomnia symptoms with varying degrees of severity
The present paper introduces another concept closely related to mindfulness that can make people less vulnerable to sleep problems and may even help them to overcome these problems—self-compassion
Summary
Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent—depending on the insomnia definition, estimates range from 6% (insomnia diagnosis as defined by the DSM-IV) to 33% (insomnia symptoms) in the general population [1]. The prevalence of poor sleep is noteworthy because it negatively affects an individual’s overall quality of life beyond the nocturnal effects [2]. People suffering from insomnia symptoms report a significant impairment of daytime functioning with regard to several social, emotional, and physical domains [5], even after controlling for comorbid medical illnesses. They report an overall lower quality of life comparable to that of individuals with chronic medical conditions [6]
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