The Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy on Psychosomatic Complaints, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Suicidal Ideation in Girls with a History of Suicide Attempts

Authors
bahram Mohammad Rezaei
Roohollah Samadi
Razieh Yousefi
Bahman Rostami
Elahe Sanami
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy on psychosomatic complaints, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation in girls with a history of suicide attempts. The study was applied research with a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included young girls with a history of suicide attempts in Hamadan, Iran, in 2025. The sample consisted of 30 participants (15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) selected through convenience and purposive sampling. The research instruments included the Psychosomatic Complaints Scale (Takata & Sakata, 2004), the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (Van Orden et al., 2012), and the Scale for Suicide Ideation (Beck et al., 1979). The experimental group received compassion-focused therapy in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, while the control group received no psychological intervention. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and SPSS software.
The findings indicated that compassion-focused therapy significantly reduced psychosomatic complaints, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation in the experimental group compared to the control group.




Based on the results, compassion-focused therapy appears to be an effective approach in reducing psychological vulnerability related to suicide through decreasing self-criticism, increasing self-compassion, and improving emotion regulation, and can be applied in preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Keywords
Compassion-Focused Therapy
psychological pain
Perceived burdensomeness
Suicidal ideation
Ardeshirzadeh, M., Bakhtiarpour, S., Homaei, R., & Eftekhar, S. Z. (2022). The Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Post-Divorce Adjustment in Divorced Women Referred to Counseling Center in Ahvaz.
Arkenau, R., Bauer, A., Schneider, S., & Vocks, S. (2022). Gender differences in state body satisfaction, affect, and body-related attention patterns towards one’s own and a peer’s body: an Eye-Tracking Study with Women and Men. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 46(4), 735-746.
Beck, A. T., Kovacs, M., & Weissman, A. (1979). Assessment of suicidal intention: The Scale for Suicide Ideation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47(2), 343–352.
Falahati, F., Jaberi, M., Sharei, A., & Yahyapour, F. (2023). The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Emotional Inhibition in Girls with Non-Suicidal Self-injury. International Journal of Body, Mind & Culture (2345-5802), 10(4).
Franco, P. L., & Christie, L. M. (2021). Effectiveness of a one day self-compassion training for pediatric nurses’ resilience. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 61, 109-114.
Fraser, M. I., & Gregory, K. (2024). Applying a process-based therapy approach to compassion focused therapy: A synergetic alliance. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 32, 100754.
Galiana, L., Sansó, N., Muñoz-Martínez, I., Vidal-Blanco, G., Oliver, A., & Larkin, P. J. (2022). Palliative care professionals’ inner life: Exploring the mediating role of self-compassion in the prediction of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout and wellbeing. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 63(1), 112-123.
Geulayov, G., Ferrey, A., Hawton, K., Hermon, C., Reeves, G. K., Green, J., ... & Million Women Study Collaborators. (2019). Body mass index in midlife and risk of attempted suicide and suicide: prospective study of 1 million UK women. Psychological medicine, 49(13), 2279-2286.
Kılıç, A., Hudson, J., McCracken, L. M., Ruparelia, R., Fawson, S., & Hughes, L. D. (2021). A systematic review of the effectiveness of self-compassion-related interventions for individuals with chronic physical health conditions. Behavior therapy, 52(3), 607-625.
Leemans, L., Nijs, J., Antonis, L., Wideman, T. H., den Bandt, H., Franklin, Z., ... & Beckwee, D. (2022). Do psychological factors relate to movement-evoked pain in people with musculoskeletal pain? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brazilian journal of physical therapy, 26(6), 100453.
Lieberman, A., Gai, A. R., Rogers, M. L., Jobes, D. A., Rudd, M. D., Chalker, S. A., ... & Joiner, T. E. (2023). Targeting perceived burdensomeness to reduce suicide risk. Behavior therapy, 54(4), 696-707.
Millard, L. A., Wan, M. W., Smith, D. M., & Wittkowski, A. (2023). The effectiveness of compassion focused therapy with clinical populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 326, 168-192.
Parsa, B., Ariapooran, S., Haghayegh, S. A., & Ghorbani, M. (2023). Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Levels of Self-Criticism and Suicidal Ideations in Adolescents with Self-Harm. Psychol Stud, 19(2).
Peraza, N., Smit, T., Garey, L., Manning, K., Buckner, J. D., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2019). Distress tolerance and cessation-related cannabis processes: The role of cannabis use coping motives. Addictive behaviors, 90, 164-170.
Rainbow, C., Baldwin, P., Hosking, W., Gill, P., Blashki, G., & Shand, F. (2023). Psychological distress and suicidal ideation in Australian online help-seekers: the mediating role of perceived burdensomeness. Archives of suicide research, 27(2), 439-452.
Rasouli, M., Sharei, A., & Salmani, A. (2024). The Mediating Role of Reappraisal and Suppression of Emotional Experiences in the Relationship Between Personality Characteristics and Addiction Tendency. Journal of Research in Psychological Health, 18(3), 1-14.
Ruano, A., Garcia-Torres, F., Galvez-Lara, M., & Moriana, J. A. (2022). Psychological and non-pharmacologic treatments for pain in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of pain and symptom management, 63(5), e505-e520.
Sharei, A., Ebrahimi, M., Ahmadi Ochtapeh, P., Mahdavirad, H., & Jamshiddoust Miyanroudi, F. (2023). The Effectiveness of Strength-Based Therapy in Improving Self-Esteem and Reducing Suicidal Thoughts of Women Affected by Domestic Violence in Ardebil. Preventive Counseling, 4(1), 31-44.
Sharei, A., Kamali Dehghan, P., Ahmadi Ochtapeh, P., Dorri, M., & Jamshiddoust Miyanroudi, F. (2024). The Effectiveness of Family Therapy Training on Depression and Mental Health of Adolescents with High-Risk Behaviors. Journal of Family Relations Studies, 4(14), 41-48.
Sharei, A., Kasaei, E. A., & Salmani, A. (2024). The Effect of Mindfulness Therapy on Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Self-Awareness, and Tendency to High-Risk Behaviors in Orphaned and Poorly Monitored Adolescents: A Quasi-Experimental Study.
Takata, Y., & Sakata, Y. (2004). Development of a psychosomatic complaints scale for adolescents. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 58(1), 3-7.
Van Orden, K. A., Cukrowicz, K. C., Witte, T. K., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2012). Thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness: construct validity and psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire. Psychological assessment, 24(1), 197.
Veilleux, J. C. (2023). A theory of momentary distress tolerance: Toward understanding contextually situated choices to engage with or avoid distress. Clinical Psychological Science, 11(2), 357-380.
Zhang, Y., Li, X., Bi, Y., Kan, Y., Liu, H., Liu, L., ... & Gong, W. (2023). Effects of family function, depression, and self-perceived burden on loneliness in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a serial multiple mediation model. BMC psychiatry, 23(1), 636.
Zhou, X., Guo, J., Wu, H., Chen, D., Wang, C., & You, J. (2024). The relationship between ambivalence over emotional expression and nonsuicidal self-injury among chinese adolescents: A longitudinal moderated mediation model. Archives of suicide research, 28(1), 90-106.