Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

Objective: To investigate the effects of a 6-week smartphone compassion training intervention on mental health.

Method: Fifty-seven Swedish university students (mean age = 25, SD = 5) reporting high levels of stress were randomized to compassion training (n = 23), mindfulness (n = 19), or waitlist (n = 15).

Result: Multilevel models indicated that both compassion and mindfulness training increased self-compassion compared to the waitlist, while only compassion significantly reduced stress. Between-group effect sizes for compassion compared to waitlist were large for both self-compassion (d = 1.61) and stress (d = 0.94). Compassion and mindfulness did not differ significantly, but effect sizes were in favor of compassion. Secondary outcomes indicated positive effects on emotional awareness, while no effect was found for global psychological distress.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that compassion training via a smartphone application can improve self-compassion and reduce stress among university students. Future studies in larger clinical samples are warranted.