Mindful Self-compassion and Perfectionism

University of Bergen

Status: Completed

Conditions: Body Image; Perfectionism; Depression; Anxiety

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindful Self-Compassion

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03453437

UiBMSC2018

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study is a randomized controlled study. A total of 200 students will be invited to participate in a 5-session mindful self-compassion course aimed at increasing self-compassion and reducing maladaptive perfectionism, anxiety, depression, and unhealthy body image. Self-compassion is the ability to show oneself kindness in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, and suffering by attending to distressing experiences with kindness, mindfulness, and the ability to recognize these as a part of a shared humanity. Twelve participants will be randomly selected for pre- and post interviews to qualitatively evaluate outcome. Ten participants with high perfectionistic tendencies will be selected to participate in a narrative life story interview.

Full description

The investigators will test four hypotheses:

1. At baseline, low levels of maladaptive perfectionism, and lower levels of depression, anxiety and body appreciation - reversed, will be related to greater self-compassion. The investigators expect high level of maladaptive perfectionism to be related to lower baseline self-compassion, higher levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of body appreciation.
2. The intervention, a five session self-compassion intervention, will be sufficient to induce positive changes in perfectionism and psychological symptoms of anxiety, depression and body-appreciation- reversed.
3. Changes in self-compassion will co-vary with changes in maladaptive perfectionism and body appreciation.
4. Higher baseline levels of maladaptive perfectionism will predict greater gains from the intervention, because perfectionistic students will have greater need for a self-compassion intervention.

Enrollment: 379 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• College/university students

Exclusion criteria

• N/A

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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379 participants in 2 patient groups

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Receiving no intervention (control groups will be offered the intervention after the experimental group has completed the course)

Active group

Experimental group

Description:

Receiving Mindful Self-Compassion intervention

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindful Self-Compassion