Self-Compassion as a Resource of Resilience

From risk to resilience and from mental illness only to including mental well-being, a paradigm shift occurs within the field of clinical psychology. Resilience, consisting of recovery as well as sustainability and growth processes, pertains to the successful (and common) adaptation to adversity. This includes a return to baseline functioning or a new emotional equilibrium, as well as maintaining approach motivations toward personal values and goals. There is growing evidence that self-compassion is an inner resource that promotes resilience. Self-compassion aspects of mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity facilitate both short-term and long-term adaptation processes. Using examples of going through war (veterans) and going through cancer, this chapter illustrates how self-compassion can contribute to decreased mental distress (including anxiety and loneliness) and increased mental well-being (including emotional stability and self-care behaviors). Compassion-based interventions, both face-to-face and in online format, can contribute to facilitating resilience in the face of adversity. Future research should further investigate the different ways in which self-compassion can promote resilience, taking into account both mental distress and mental well-being aspects of mental health

Examining well-being in posttraumatic stress disorder treatment:An explorative study

Although the importance of well‐being in mental health is widely acknowledged, well‐being as a predictor of and outcome in the treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has received little attention. This naturalistic study aimed to investigate well‐being in the context of care‐as‐usual treatment for PTSD. Patients with PTSD attending a community mental health center (N = 318) completed measures of well‐being and PTSD symptoms before and after symptom‐focused treatment. Following treatment, well‐being increased among patients with PTSD, with emotional, d = −0.25, and psychological well‐being, d = ‐0.24, showing the largest improvements relative to social well‐being, d = −0.15. Although levels of well‐being improved overall within the sample, participant scores on measures of well‐being remained low compared with the general population. Well‐being predicted treatment efficiency such that participants with more severe PTSD symptoms benefitted more from care‐as‐usual treatment when they reported relatively high levels of well‐being at the start of treatment. The findings suggest a benefit to including well‐being as a pretreatment and outcome variable when evaluating PTSD treatments

Exploring the Benefits and Acceptance of Blended Positive Psychotherapy as an Adjunctive Treatment for Clients with Residual Depressive Symptoms:A Mixed-Method Study

A proof-of-concept study was conducted to explore the acceptability and potential benefits of a blended positive psychotherapy intervention for clients with residual depressive symptoms. A single-arm pilot study was conducted in 2022 and 2023 with 24 Dutch adults experiencing residual depressive symptoms after treatment. Clients who had recently received an evidence-based treatment for depressive disorder were approached to participate in this study through opportunity sampling. The intervention consisted of nine sessions with a therapist and a six-week self-guided digital positive psychology intervention. Acceptability was examined using semi-structured interviews (n = 15). Participants filled out questionnaires pre- (n = 21), mid- (n = 14) and post-intervention (n = 8). Potential benefits were assessed in terms of changes in mental well-being (MHC-SF), depression (PHQ-9) and personal recovery (QPR). Quantitative data and qualitative data were analysed using linear mixed-effects models and framework analysis, respectively. The analyses were primarily based on Sekhon’s theoretical framework of acceptability. Linear mixed-effects analyses showed changes over time in most mental health indicators, including mental well-being (Hedge’s g = 1.58), depression (g = 1.43) and personal recovery (g = 1.96). Most of the interviewed participants considered blended positive psychotherapy a valuable adjunctive treatment; it connected well with their wish to become more positive in their daily life without ignoring difficult experiences. For some participants, shifting towards a positive treatment approach was difficult, resulting in early dropout. This study’s findings suggest that blended positive psychotherapy is acceptable to most people with residual depressive symptoms after treatment. Its impact is yet to be established in larger samples of studies involving more robust designs.</p

Practicing Other-Focused Kindness and Self-Focused Kindness Among Those at Risk for Mental Illness:Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

People with reduced levels of mental well-being might be at risk for developing future mental illness. Although several positive psychology interventions successfully improve mental well-being and psychological distress, less is known about their efficacy in a sample at risk for mental disorders. A Dutch sample of 289 participants with low or moderate levels of well-being were randomly assigned to other-focused kindness with reflection, other-focused kindness without reflection, self-focused kindness, or waitlist control (Trial register: NTR6786). Results of multilevel growth curve analyses revealed that other-focused kindness, but not self-focused kindness, led to improvements in the primary outcome mental well-being relative to waitlist control up to 6-week follow-up. By contrast, only other-focused kindness without reflection led to improvements in psychological distress. The three kindness conditions mainly did not differ from one another, and mainly no differences were found up to 6-months follow-up. An exception was that perceived stress was significantly more reduced up to 6-week and 6-months follow-up when people practiced other-focused kindness without reflection then when participants had practiced self-focused kindness. These findings point to the benefits of practicing kindness for others when people might be at risk for future mental illness. The study also indicates that reflecting about practicing kindness does not seem to have added value.</p

Differential relationships in the association of the Big Five personality traits with positive mental health and psychopathology

According to the two continua model of mental health, psychopathology and positive mental health (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) are related but distinct continua. This study investigates the two continua model by examining whether psychopathology and positive mental health show differential associations with the Big Five personality traits. The paper draws on data of the representative LISS panel (CentERdata). Participants (N = 1161; age 18–88) filled out questionnaires on personality, psychopathology, and positive mental health. Personality traits were differentially related to psychopathology and positive mental health, supporting the two continua model. Emotional stability (reversed neuroticism) is the main correlate of psychopathology, whereas the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness are uniquely associated with positive mental health