Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Training on Levels of Self-Criticism and Sense of Coherence in Women with Depressive Symptoms

Authors
masoomeh hoseinian
roya tavokoli
Abstract
The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of self-compassion training on levels of self-criticism and sense of coherence in women with depressive symptoms. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all women with depressive symptoms referring to counseling centers in Qom. Among them, 30 participants were selected through purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (15 participants) or the control group (15 participants). The research instruments included the Beck Depression Inventory-II for screening, the Levels of Self-Criticism Scale by Thompson and Zuroff, and the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire by Flensborg-Madsen. The experimental group received group self-compassion training, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA and ANCOVA). The findings indicated that after controlling for the pretest effect, the difference between the experimental and control groups in the posttest phase was statistically significant for both levels of self-criticism and sense of coherence. The educational intervention accounted for 29.1% of the variance in self-criticism and 59.0% of the variance in sense of coherence. Furthermore, the results showed that this training significantly reduced internalized and comparative self-criticism while enhancing the components of sense of coherence, including comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. In conclusion, by weakening self-criticism mechanisms and strengthening the structure of the sense of coherence, self-compassion training serves as an effective approach for improving the mental health indices of depressed women, and its application in counseling centers is recommended.
Keywords
Self-Compassion Training
Levels of Self-Criticism
sense of coherence
Depressive Symptoms
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