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Effects of a Virtual Mindful Self-Compassion
Training on Mindfulness, Self-Compassion,
Empathy, Well-being and Stress in Uruguayan
Primary School Teachers During Covid-19 Times.
Tamara Liberman1
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Martín Bidegain
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Andrea Berriel
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Francisco López
Alexander Ibarra
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Mikaela Pisani
Rootstrap
Sol Polero
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Gonzalo Brito
Nirakara Mindfulness Institute
Ana Carolina Pereira
Consejo de Formación en Educación
Silvana López
Consejo de Formación en Educación
María E. Castelló ( mcastello@iibce.edu.uy )
Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable
Research Article
Keywords: Mindfulness, Self-compassion, Teachers, Empathy, Stress, Well-being
Posted Date: May 12th, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2909265/v1
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Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effects of a virtual Mindful Self-compassion (MSC)
intervention on mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy, stress, and well-being in Uruguayan primary
school teachers.
Methods: A quasi-experimental, longitudinal study was conducted with an active control intervention
(Kundalini Yoga, KY). Uruguayan volunteer female teachers were randomly assigned to MSC or KY 9-
weeks virtual training and completed self-reports and an empathy for pain task (EPT) at pre-, post-
training, and follow-up (3 months).
Results: After MSC training, mindfulness (ES: observing= -0.836; non-reactivity= -0.476; total
mindfulness= -0.655), self-compassion (ES: self-kindness= 0.745; common humanity= -0.588;
mindfulness= -0.487) and self-judgment (ES= -0.463) signicantly (p<0.05) increased. Furthermore,
perspective-taking increased (ES= -0.505) and personal distress decreased (ES= -0.587), while stress
decreased (ES= -0.450) and well-being increased (ES= -0.612) after this training. At follow-up, observing
(ES= -0.675) and total mindfulness (ES= -0.757) remained elevated and non-judging increased (ES=
-0.667); self-compassion remained elevated (ES= -0.778) and personal distress remained decreased ( ES=
-0.857). After MSC training, EPT intentionality comprehension accuracy signicantly increased (SE=
-0.588).
After training, personal distress was higher in KY than MSC (ES= -0.344), while at follow-up observing
(ES= -0.454) and total mindfulness (ES =-0.415) were higher in MSC. No differences between groups were
found for the EPT.
Conclusions: Virtual MSC training cultivated mindfulness and self-compassion associated with an
increase in well-being and empathy, and a reduction of stress in Uruguayan primary school teachers.
Introduction
The teaching profession is worldwide one of the most demanding and exhausting, reaching higher levels
of stress relative to other professions (Kyriacou, 2001; Corbin et al., 2019). Teaching professionals are
required to have social and emotional skills that enable them to create the most conducive classroom
climate for learning (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009) while avoiding or counteracting work-related stress
that may damage their health (Seibt et al., 2013; Scheuch et al., 2015) and negatively impact on their
relationship with students (Spilt et al., 2011; Corbin et al., 2019). Robalino & Körner (2005) reported
mental health-related problems in Latin American teachers such as stress, depression and feelings of
grief, which would result from the material and social conditions, and the challenging job demands. A
study in 2015 showed that the prevalence of burnout syndrome in female teachers in Montevideo,
Uruguay, was among the highest in Latin America (Silva et al., 2015). According to a report on the state of
education between 2019 and 2020 (INEEd, 2021a), Uruguayan teachers perceive job demands as too
challenging for their own personal resources. Especially Uruguayan preschool and public primary school
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teachers, mostly females who have a higher rate of double presence -and deal with paid and domestic
work simultaneously-, show higher ratings of cognitive and emotional work overload, higher levels of
stress symptoms and burnout, and lower well-being, accompanied by a higher prevalence of illnesses
(INEEd, 2020).
In addition to the above-mentioned situation, teaching diculties increased and new ones emerged as a
result of the Coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19; OECD, 2020), affecting teachers' personal,
professional and emotional lives, and resulting in physical, mental and social health problems (Holguín,
2020). In fact, teachers had to cope with logistical, technological, pedagogical and socio-affective
challenges and diculties (Sánchez et al., 2020). Hence, during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers’ social
skills became even more necessary, to enable them to deal with more complex and challenging contexts.
Uruguayan teachers, particularly female secondary school teachers who had to reconcile paid work from
home with domestic and care tasks, reported high levels of work overload (INEEd, 2021a). Uruguayan
primary school teachers also highlighted the fundamental need for more competencies to enable them to
work on coexistence, emotional education and relationships (INEEd, 2021b).
“The prosocial classroom” model of Jennings & Greenberg (2009) highlights the importance of teachers’
well-being and social and emotional competencies for promoting a prosocial classroom atmosphere that
favors learning and supportive relationships with their students. According to this model, socially and
emotionally competent teachers understand the connections between their students’ emotions and
behaviors, and respond empathically, prone to help rather than repress or punish, hence setting limits
effectively and respectfully, and are self-aware of emotions, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, and
self-regulate to promote positive outcomes even in challenging situations, without compromising their
health. They have prosocial skills and therefore assess the impact of their actions on others. They build
supportive relationships based on mutual understanding and cooperation, accepting others’ perspectives
(Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Jennings, 2015). The authors argue that these competencies are
associated with empathy, compassion, perspective-taking, and responsiveness.
The implementation of secular contemplative practices worldwide is gaining ground due to the reported
benecial effects both in clinical and non-clinical populations (Goyal et al., 2014; Hilton et al., 2017;
Slemp et al., 2019). In the education eld, extensive research aims at studying the impact of such
practices on students (reviewed by Meiklejohn et al., 2012, Zenner et al., 2014, and Schonert-Reichl &
Roeser, 2016), while historically fewer publications focused on teachers (reviewed by Meiklejohn et al.,
2012, Emerson et al., 2017, Schonert-Reichl & Roeser, 2016,and Sleilaty, 2022). According to Kabat-Zinn
(1994), the practice of mindfulness involves observing the experience with openness and acceptance,
without judgment or resistance (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). This skill can be cultivated through a contemplative
practice that implies loving-kindness, equanimity, compassion, generosity, and gratitude (Grossman,
2015). Training in mindfulness is positively associated with decreased negative psychological symptoms
and emotional reactivity, as well as with increased behavioral regulation and well-being (Keng et al.,
2011). According to Germer & Neff (2019), an implicit aspect of mindfulness is compassion since
mindfulness can only be achieved if warmness and kindness to oneself are achieved in the rst place. As
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stated by Neff (2003a, 2003b), self-compassion involves treating oneself kindly, with acceptance, care
and understanding (Neff et al., 2007). Three basic components interrelate in self-compassion: 1) self-
kindness, which involves being kind and understanding to oneself instead of dispensing disapproving
self-criticism and self-judgment, 2) common humanity, which entails considering personal experiences as
part of the life experiences that humans go through instead of feeling isolated, and 3) mindfulness, which
implies observing one's thoughts and feelings with awareness without over-identifying with them. The
sense of shared humanity, recognizing the connection with the rest of humanity, facilitates being
compassionate to others (Neff, 2003a, 2003b). Self-compassion promotes well-functioning and secure
attachments through increased altruism, perspective-taking, forgiveness, generosity, and empathic
concern. Highly self-compassionate people report better relationships, greater ability to resolve
interpersonal conicts and feeling less affected by adverse experiences (Neff & Beretvas, 2012; Yarnell &
Neff, 2013; Neff & Pommier, 2013).
Mindfulness-based practices in teachers promote mindfulness and pro-social skills, improve emotional
regulation and well-being, and reduce stress (Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018; Berkovich-Ohana et al., 2019).
Roeser et al. (2013) evidenced that training in mindfulness and self-compassion improves mindfulness,
focused attention and self-compassion (related to the occupation) and reduces stress and burnout both
at post-training and follow-up. Jennings (2015) found that mindfulness and self-compassion may be
important contributors to creating social and emotional competencies such as self-awareness, self-
management and social awareness, which may in turn impact classroom quality. Furthermore, the author
raises the need for interventions that promote mindfulness and self-compassion with a randomized,
controlled design. In a recent study, Tarrasch et al. (2020) showed that training in a program that employs
mindfulness, compassion and social-emotional skills improves teachers' interpersonal faculties such as
sense of ecacy, interpersonal mindfulness in teaching, and the interpersonal reactivity measures of
perspective-taking. It also improves the intrapersonal faculties of mindfulness, perceived stress,
rumination, reection, and self-compassion (Tarrasch et al., 2020).
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC; Neff & Germer, 2013) is a fairly recent mindfulness-based training
program oriented towards promoting the capacity of self-compassion and mindfulness, the latter
providing the necessary awareness of the suffering experience to bring kindness and understanding to
ourselves (Germer & Neff, 2019).
To our understanding, the psychological and/or neurobiological effects of the MSC program have never
been quantitatively investigated in teachers. Meditation is rarely practiced in the context of education in
Uruguay, and it is not included as part of the teacher’s initial and/or permanent formation.
Considering the Uruguayan teachers' need for approaches that provide them with competencies to build
supportive relations and healthy educational environments while promoting their well-being and reducing
stress, we initiated a research line to study the physiological and psychological effects of interventions
promoting well-being. In this study, we assessed the effects of a virtual MSC program (Neff & Germer,
2013) in a group of Uruguayan female primary school teachers on trainable skills such as mindfulness
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and self-compassion, and on empathy, well-being and stress. We were also interested in elucidating if the
effects last in time and would sustain 3 months after MSC training.
We hypothesized that the online MSC training would increase mindfulness and self-compassion, improve
well-being while reducing stress, and that the effect of MSC on mindfulness, and particularly on self-
compassion, would be higher than that of the KY as this training does not explicitly train mindfulness or
self-compassion.
Since the collection of all data in this study was performed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual
version of the MSC program was conducted, as advised by the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion
(CMSC). Following Davidson & Kaszniak (2015) considerations on mindfulness-based research,
Kundalini Yoga (KY) was selected as an active control condition. KY is a contemplative practice that
improves psychological outcomes and stress (Streeter et al., 2010; Wang & Szabo, 2020) although not
intended specically to promote self-compassion as the MSC program.
Methodology
We used a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design with an intervention (MSC training) and an active
control group (KY training) (Echevarría, 2016). Since effects beyond the training period were expected, a
three-month follow-up period was established. The methodological design followed the suggestions
posed by Davidson & Kaszniak (2016) regarding mindfulness-based interventions. In particular,
guidelines for a control condition were rigorously followed to match the mindfulness intervention on non-
specic factors such as the length of interventions and amount of practice, and the instructors’ expertise,
condence in the benets of their interventions, commitment and enthusiasm. The MSC instructors were
certied by the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, USA. The KY instructor was certied as a Kundalini
Yoga professor by the Kundalini Research Institute, USA. The participants were blinded to which was the
experimental intervention.
Participants and Procedures
Female primary school practicing teachers of the Uruguayan Metropolitan area interested in participating
in this research project, including free training in MSC or yoga, were recruited. Several channels of
communication, including social media, direct contact with school authorities, and personal
communication were used. A total of 298 teachers expressed their interest through the lling of a google
form. After completion of informed consent, self-reported information and psychological interviews,
including the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan et al., 1998; Ferrando et al., 2000),
were used to select the sample. According to the inclusion criteria, the selected participants were: i)
women, ii) primary school teachers in practice, and iii) right-handed. The exclusion criteria were: i)
training in yoga, mindfulness and/or self-compassion during two years previous to the registration;ii)
presence of psychological disorders, and iii)consumption of prescribed drugs that may affect the
variables of interest such as heart rate and/or brain activity.
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The MSC and KY trainings took place simultaneously for 9 weeks, matching an identical amount of
practice, of both virtual synchronous formal and asynchronous informal activities (Davidson and
Kaszniak, 2016). A week prior to the beginning of the training (pre-training), a week after the end of the
training (post-training) and 3 months later (follow-up), the participants completed online questionnaires
(Stoet, 2010; 2017). In the months previous and posterior to the beginning and end of the training,
respectively, they also accomplished in-person an abbreviated and modied version of an empathy for
pain task (EPT; Decety et al., 2012; Baez et. al., 2017).
A total of 48 participants that met the selection criteria were randomly assigned to the MSC or KY groups.
As shown in Table 1, 37 participants completed the trainings (MSC: n=19, mean age 38 SD= 6.9 years;
KY: n=18, mean age 41.2, SD= 7,2 years), and the online psychometric tests at pre- and post-training.
Twenty-three of them also completed the online psychometric tests at follow-up (MSC n=10, mean age
37.6, SD= 2.12 years; KY n=13, mean age 40.92, SD= 8.41 years). Due to the issues posed by the
pandemic, some participants dropped out and did not perform the self-reports and/or the in-person EPT
at post-training and follow-up. Twenty-eight teachers completed the EPT at pre- and post-training (MSC:
n=13, mean age 37.08, SD= 7.93 years; KY: n=15, mean age 41.13, SD= 7.92 years), while 22 completed
the EPT at follow-up (MSC: n=10, mean age 37.6, SD= 7.92 years; KY: n=12, mean age 41.5, SD=8.51
years).
Table 1
Number of Participants in the Mindful Self-Compassion and Kundalini Yoga Groups at the Pre-, Post-
intervention, and Follow-up Time Points for the Psychometric Tests and the Empathy for Pain Task
Psychometric tests Empathy for pain task
PRE & POST PRE, POST & FU PRE & POST PRE, POST & FU
MSC 19 10 13 10
KY 18 13 15 12
Total 37 23 28 22
Note. MSC =
Mindful Self-Compassion;
KY =
Kundalini Yoga;
PRE =
pre-intervention;
POST =
post-
intervention;
FU =
follow-up.
Psychometric instruments: self-reported questionnaires
The participants completed an online survey (Stoet, 2010; 2017) aimed at assessing self-reported
mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy, stress and well-being using the Spanish versions of the
following questionnaires and scales: i) the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al, 2006;
Cebolla et al., 2012; Quintana et al., 2017), a 39-item instrument on a ve-point Likert-type scale to assess
mindfulness skills through ve factors that represent the dimensions of mindfulness -observing,
describing, acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reactivity to inner experience-; ii) the Self-
Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003a; García-Campayo, 2014), a 26-item that assesses the ability to be
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compassionate to oneself in dicult or challenging situations, by measuring three interrelated
components of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness; iii) the Interpersonal
Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980, 1983; Fernández et al., 2011), a multidimensional approach to assess
cognitive and affective dispositional empathy through 28 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale, including
four interrelated dimensions: perspective-taking, fantasy, empathic concern and personal distress; iv) the
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1983; Tapia et al., 2007), a 10-item questionnaire on a ve-point
Likert-type scale that measures the level of perceived stress elicited by one’s life situations over the
previous month; and v) the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5; World Health
Organization, 1998; Topp et al., 2015), a 5-item that measures mental subjective well-being during the
preceding two weeks.
Empathy for pain task
To evidence the effects of the MSC and KY interventions on experimental empathic responses, empathy
for pain was assessed with an in-person EPT, according to Baez et al. (2017) at pre-training, post-training
and follow-up. This test was selected because of its reliability in provoking empathic responses and for
allowing empathy to be assessed based on the capacity to detect intentional harm in interpersonal
contexts (Decety et a., 2012; Baez et. al., 2014, 2016). Briey, the teachers observed on a computer screen
13 sets of images, one for training and 12 for testing. Each set consisted of three images -of 500, 200
and 1000 ms duration from rst to third-, presented sequentially to imply an in-motion situation. As
shown in Figure 1, all the situations, but the neutrals, corresponded to the interactions between two
persons -whose faces could not be seen-, involving either intentional (n=4) or accidental (n=4) harm.
Neutral situations (n=4) did not imply any kind of harm.
After each set, the participants answered 5 questions assessing cognitive and affective components of
empathy, as well as elements of moral evaluation. The cognitive component was evaluated by a question
regarding the intentionality of the harm inicted (yes or no), while the affective components addressed
the empathic concern and personal distress (by sliding an analogic bar comprising positive and negative
scores). For the purpose of this study, we centered our analysis on the accuracy of intentionality
comprehension, and on the affective components of empathy.
The in-person EPT was performed following the COVID-19 safety protocol indicated by the Uruguayan
Ministry of Health.
Mindfulness Self-Compassion and Kundalini Yoga interventions
Meeting the criteria posed by Davidson and Kaszniak (2015), both the experimental (MSC) and the active
control (KY) trainings were equivalent and the contents addressed along the trainings are described in
this section. Both the MSC and the KY trainings involved virtual weekly sessions along 8 weeks and one
3-hour virtual retreat, from March to May 2021, matching weekdays and times. The MSC program (Neff &
Germer, 2013) consisted of 2-hour 45-minute virtual group sessions, and daily individual home practices
of 20-30 min duration. Aiming at developing skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, the topics
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covered in the program were: discovering self-compassion, practicing mindfulness; practicing loving-
kindness; discovering one's own compassionate voice; living deeply; managing dicult emotions;
exploring challenging relationships; and embracing life. The KY sessions matched the time and length of
practice of the MSC training. Aiming at activating the Kundalini energy or
shakti
, the topics covered in KY
sessions were: meditating for a calm heart; physical strength and disease resistance; immune system
booster: the inner sun; foundation for innity; body adjustment to elevate the spirit; get the energy moving;
long deep breathing; warriors tense release; and kundalini yoga for physical and mental vitality.
Data analysis and statistics
Psychometric and experimental data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 statistics software
package. Since the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality showed that some of the variables’ distributions
departed signicantly from normality, non-parametric tests were used, and the median and interquartile
range were calculated.
Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the results of the psychometric tests and the EPT
between pre- and post-training (from here on short-term effects).
As mentioned before, due to the participants' dropout, the size of the sample of both groups decreased
from post-training to follow-up.
Friedman ANOVA and the Wilcoxon signed rank test post hoc were used to compare the results of the
psychometric tests and the EPT between all times (pre-, post-training and follow-up) focusing on the
follow-up (from here on long-term effects).
Comparisons of the psychometric tests and the EPT results between the MSC and KY groups were
conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test for each data collection point (pre-, post-training, and follow-
up).
The intentionality comprehension of the EPT situations was evaluated by the accuracy of the response to
the intentionality question, i.e. the number of positive attributions -both intentional and accidental- that
were correct. The affective components were analyzed by the ratings of the specic questions.
In order to address the “strength of the relationship between the investigated variables”, particular interest
was directed toward the effect sizes (ES), calculated using r = Z/√N (Tomczak & Tomczak, 2014).
Figures were created with Python (comparison MSC vs Yoga at pre-post-training and follow-up:
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Ky_9meAC6-bq94SOUIIrIHS0xeMA87LP?usp=share_link;
comparison between pre-post and pre-post-follow-up of MSC and YK:
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1fVh573VxkigDHO-EOD_R0ZnPH58LGksX?usp=share_link) or
Excel.
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The protocol of this study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the IIBCE (#001,
2018), and participants gave their written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of
Helsinki.
Results
Thirty-seven female primary school teachers (MSC: n=19; KY: n=18) completed online self-reported
questionnaires assessing mindfulness (FFMQ), self-compassion (SCS), dispositional empathy (IRI),
global stress (PSS) and wellbeing (WHO-5) at pre- and post-trainings. Twenty-three teachers completed
these questionnaires at follow-up (MSC: n= 10; KY: n=13).
Twenty-seven participants also performed an EPT at pre- and post-training (MSC: n=13, KY: n=15), and
twenty-two at follow-up (MSC: n=10, KY: n=12).
Psychometric tests
Psychometric data of MSC and KY groups did not differ at pre-training for any of the variables studied
(online resource 1).
Short-term effects of MSC training on the psychometric tests (pre- vs post-)
To evidence the short-term effects of the MSC training, pre- and post-training self-reported data were
compared (n=19). Training in MSC increased the observing (p= 0.000, ES= -0.836) and non-reactivity (p=
0.038, ES= -0.476) factors of mindfulness, as well as the total FFMQ (p= 0.004, ES -0.655) (Fig. 2a). The
self-kindness (p= 0.001, ES= -0.745), common humanity (p= 0.010, ES -0.588) and mindfulness (p= 0.034,
ES= -0.487) components of self-compassion also increased after the MSC training, and so did self-
judgment (p= 0.044, ES= -0.463) (Fig. 2b).
Concerning dispositional empathy, the perspective-taking facet increased (p= 0.028, ES= -0.505), while
the personal distress decreased (p= 0.011, ES= -0.587) (Fig. 2c). The stress perception decreased (p=
0.050, ES= -0.450) (Figs. 2d), and the subjective well-being increased after the training (p= 0.008, ES=
-0.612) (Fig. 2e). All data are shown in online resource 2.
Short-term effects of KY training on the psychometric tests (pre- vs post-)
To evidence the short-term effects of KY training, the pre- and post-training self-reported psychometric
data were compared (n=18). Training in KY increased the observing (p= 0.010, ES -0.610) and acting with
awareness (p= 0.014, ES= -0.581) factors of the FFMQ, as well as the total FFMQ (p= 0.029, ES= -0.513)
(Fig. 3a). The self-kindness component of the SCS also increased (p= 0.015, ES= -0.571), as well as self-
judgment (p= 0.012, ES= -0.592) and over-identication (p= 0.002, ES= -0.715) (Fig. 3b). KY did not
modify any of the IRI dimensions. The stress perception decreased (p= 0.003, ES= -0.704), and the
subjective well-being increased after the KY training (p= 0.022, ES= -0.541) (Figs. 3c and 3d; all data are
shown in online resource 3)
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Comparison of the short-term effects of MSC and KY trainings on psychometric data at pre- and post-
training
Results of the self-reported questionnaires of the MSC (n=19) and KY (n=18) groups were compared
before and after trainings. As mentioned before, at pre-training no differences in any of the variables
studied between MSC and KY were found (online resource 1). The comparison of post-training results
showed that the personal distress component of dispositional empathy was higher in the KY than in the
MSC group (p= 0.036, ES= -0.344) (Fig. 4; online resource 4).
Long-term effects of the MSC training on the psychometric tests (pre- vs post- vs follow-up)
Pre-, post- and follow-up self-reported questionnaires were compared in the MSC group (n=10; note the
smaller n with respect to previous analysis due to participants' dropout at follow-up). The observing
factor of the FFMQ increased at post-training (p= 0.015, ES= -0.771) and follow-up (p= 0.033, ES= -0.675)
with respect to pre-training. The non-judging factor increased at follow-up with respect to both pre-
training (p= 0.035, ES= -0.667) and post-training (p= 0.036, ES= -0.662). The total mindfulness of the
FFMQ increased at follow-up with respect to pre-training (p= 0.017, ES= -0.757) (Fig. 5a). Regarding self-
compassion, the common humanity component increased at post-training (p= 0.011, ES= -0.802) and
follow-up (p= 0.014, ES= -0.778) with respect to pre-training (Fig. 5b). Concerning empathy, the personal
distress decreased at post-training (p= 0.049, ES= 0.624) and follow-up (p= 0.007, ES= -0.857) with
respect to pre-training (Fig. 5c). The self-reported well-being increased at post-training with respect to pre-
training (p= 0.021, ES= -0.732) but did not remain by follow-up (Fig. 5d). All data are shown in online
resources 5 to 7.
Long-term effects of the KY training on the psychometric tests (pre- vs post- vs follow-up)
When comparing pre-, post- and follow-up self-reported questionnaires in the KY group (n=13; note the
difference in the n with previous analysis due to participants' dropout), the factor acting with awareness
of the FFMQ increased at post-training (p= 0.033, ES= -0.593) and at follow-up (p= 0.016, ES= -0.670)
with respect to pre-training. The non-judging factor also increased at follow-up with respect to pre-training
(p= 0.027, ES= -0.613) and post-training (p= 0.028, ES= -0.610) (Fig. 6a). Concerning self-compassion, the
self-kindness component increased at post-training (p= 0.037, ES= -0.579) and follow-up (p= 0.028, ES=
-0.610) with respect to pre-training (Fig. 6b). The self-reported stress decreased at post-training with
respect to pre-training (p= 0.001, ES= -0.884), and it increased at follow-up with respect to post-training
(p= 0.015, ES= 0.674) (Fig. 6c). All data are shown in online resources 8 to 10.
Comparison of the effects of MSC and KY training on psychometric data at follow-up.
When comparing self-reports between groups at follow-up (MSC: n=10, KY: n=13), the observing factor of
the FFMQ was higher in the MSC than in the KY group (p= 0.029, ES= -0.454), as well as the total FFMQ
(p= 0.046, ES= -0.415) (Fig. 7). All data are shown in online resource 11.
Empathy for pain Task
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Short-term effects of MSC and KY trainings on the empathy for pain task (pre- vs post-)
To evidence the short-term effects of the MSC and KY trainings on experimental empathic responses, pre-
and post-training EPT results were compared.
Concerning the MSC group (n=13), no differences in affective empathy -empathic concern and personal
distress- were found between pre- and post-training. Meanwhile, for cognitive empathy, the accuracy in
the intentionality comprehension was higher at post-training than at pre-training only when the harm was
intentional (p=0.034, ES= -0.588) (online resource 12).
Concerning the KY group (n=15), no differences in the accuracy in intentionality comprehension were
found between pre- and post-training. When comparing affective empathy components, only the personal
distress decreased post-training when the harm was intentional (p= 0.038, ES= -0.535) (Fig. 8; online
resource 13).
Long-term effects of MSC and KY training on the empathy for pain task (pre- vs post- vx follow-up)
To evidence the long-term effects of the trainings on the EPT, pre-, post-training and follow-up data were
compared (note the difference in the n with previous analysis due to participants' dropout).
The MSC group (n=10) showed no signicant differences between the three time points either in cognitive
or affective empathy. All data are shown in online resources 14 to 16.
Concerning the KY group (n=12), the empathic concern for intentional harm decreased post-training
(p=0.050, ES=0.380), and the personal distress for intentional harm decreased both at post-training
(p=0.004, ES=0.720) and at follow-up (p=0.021, TE= 0.670) when compared with pre-training (Fig. 9). No
signicant differences between the three time points were found regarding accuracy in intentionality
comprehension. All data are shown in online resources 17 to 19.
Comparison of the effects of MSC and KY training on the empathy for pain task
When comparing the EPT between MSC and KY trainings at pre-training, post-training (MSC n=13; KY
n=15) and follow-up (MSC n=10; KY n=12), no statistical differences in affective or cognitive empathy
were observed (online resources 20 to 22).
Discussion
The well-being of teachers is often neglected, despite the fact that they play an essential role not only in
the academic but also in the mental, social, and emotional well-being of students (Lever et al., 2017).
Uruguayan female public preschool and primary school teachers exhibit high levels of stress and burnout
and low levels of well-being (INEEd, 2020), and express the need for more competencies related to
coexistence, emotional education and relationships (INEEd, 2021b).
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The present study is the rst one quantitatively investigating the psychological effects of the MSC
program on female primary school teachers, focusing on the trainable skills of self-compassion and
mindfulness, as well as on stress, well-being and empathy. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this
is the rst study that investigates the effects of virtual MSC training within the context of the COVID-19
pandemic. We hypothesized that a 9-week virtual MSC training (Neff & Germer, 2013) would increase
primary school teachers' mindfulness and self-compassion, improve well-being and empathy and reduce
stress.
We studied short-term and long-term effects of the virtual MSC program, and compared the results with
an active control group that was trained in KY.
Previous to MSC or KY trainings, the participants exhibited moderate values in the mindfulness, self-
compassion and empathy dimensions studied. Interestingly, in spite of the pandemic, stress and well-
being variables also showed moderate values. The MSC and KY groups did not differ in any of these
variables before training.
Our results show that a virtual MSC training during the pandemic improved mindfulness and self-
compassion in Uruguayan female teachers. This is in line with previous research involving in-person (Neff
& Germer, 2013; Jiménez-Gómez et al., 2022) and online MSC trainings in other target populations
(Campo et al., 2017; Yeung et al., 2021).
As mentioned before, due to the participants' dropout, the data of the pre- vs post-training (short-term)
and pre- vs post-training vs follow-up (long-term) were analyzed separately.
The MSC training showed a positive impact on the components observing and non-reactivity of the
mindfulness skills, as well as on the total mindfulness score at post-training. This was as expected, since
observing is a central component of mindfulness, with attention being trained to intentionally direct
towards one's own breathing and experience. MSC is a program that cultivates mindfulness and self-
compassion. Thus, the increase in the non-reactivity component is consistent with the improved ability to
become aware of personal thoughts and feelings without reacting or trying to change them. The MSC
training also positively impacted on the three positive facets of self-compassion: self-kindness, common
humanity, and mindfulness. The fact that over-identication was not affected is consistent with the
observed increase in non-reactivity. Considering the intertwining of mindfulness and self-compassion, an
increase in mindfulness would decrease self-judgment (Neff, 2003) but the opposite holds for the present
results. Although teachers' self-kindness increased after MSC training, self-judgment -its opposite facet-
also increased, and over-identication and isolation did not decrease. However, since an improvement in
self-kindness would relate to a decrease in negative emotional experiences (Neff, 2003), the increase in
self-kindness found in our results might be indicating a phenomenon in process that would eventually
lead to a decrease in self-judgment with further training.
Concerning the long-term effects of the MSC program on mindfulness and self-compassion, the
component observing of mindfulness increased post-training and remained high at follow-up, the total
Page 14/37
mindfulness skill increased from pre-training to follow-up, and the non-judging increased from post-
training to follow-up. Furthermore, the common humanity also increased post-training and remained high
three months later. These results indicate that the effect lasted at least 3 months after the termination of
the intervention. Importantly, the effect sizes of all of these results were large, indicating a high and long-
lasting impact of the MSC intervention.
The KY virtual intervention also impacted several of the mindfulness and self-compassion dimensions.
The observing and acting with awareness components of mindfulness, as well as the total mindfulness
increased post-training. Like MSC intervention, in KY attention is directed toward the body and breathing,
which explains the positive effect of this practice on these components of mindfulness. Concerning self-
compassion, self-kindness, self-judgment and over-identication components increased after KY training.
Albeit being negative factors, one should not expect the self-compassion elements to be favored with this
practice as this ability is not explicitly cultivated. Regarding the long-term effects of the KY training,
acting with awareness and self-kindness increased post-training and remained high three months later,
while the non-judging component of mindfulness increased from post-training to follow-up, indicating the
process in progress. All the reported results of the KY intervention had a high effect size.
The comparison between MSC and KY effects with regard to mindfulness and self-compassion showed
differences only for the mindfulness skill at follow-up. Observing and total mindfulness were higher in the
MSC than in the control group, showing moderate effect sizes. These results could be explained by the
fact that specic training in mindfulness skills takes place in the MSC program, in which mindfulness is
considered one of the central aspects of self-compassion (Neff, 2003). Although the KY involves some
mindfulness skills, this is not the focus of the practice. However, since MSC and KY are both mind and
body practices (National Library of Medicine, 2019), based on paying attention to breathing and being
aware of the present moment, the differences were not so marked. Intriguingly, no differences in self-
compassion were found between MSC and KY groups.
Training in MSC was effective in reducing teachers' perceived stress and increasing their perceived well-
being, consistent with previous ndings (Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018; Berkovich-Ohana et al., 2019). The
perceived stress diminished post-training, with a moderate effect size, while the perceived well-being
increased, with a large effect size. This is in line with previous ndings, which demonstrate an inverse
association between self-compassion and negative mental states, including depression, stress and
anxiety (Ferrari et al., 2019; Li et al., 2019; Neff, 2023). Self-compassion fosters a more self-supportive
approach to stressful situations, recognizing them as part of life and thus reducing rumination and the
perception of threat (Neff et al., 2007). Training in mindfulness and self-compassion reduces stress,
burnout and rumination (Shapiro et al., 2005; Roeser et al., 2013; Kirby et al., 2017; Tarrasch et al., 2020).
Furthermore, the self-kindness, connectedness and presence dimensions of self-compassion allow better
coping with negative emotions and lead to satisfying and meaningful feelings even when suffering,
which may explain the mental positive status enhanced by self-compassion (Zessin et al., 2015; Neff,
2023). In effect, our results show that teachers trained in MSC increased self-kindness, common
humanity, mindfulness and well-being.
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However, contrary to our expectations and inconsistent with previous research (Neff & Germer, 2013;
Tarrasch et al., 2020), the improvements in perceived stress and well-being were not sustained over time,
raising the question whether the Covid-19 pandemic-related issues might have partly opposed to MSC
training effects. In this regard, Pressley et al., (2021) noted that teachers became frontline workers during
the pandemic, which contributed to higher levels of stress (Pressley, 2021), and primary school teachers
tended to show an elevated level of burnout (Pellerone, 2021). Facing new challenges -either providing in-
person, hybrid or virtual lessons- that included having to adapt their pedagogical and technological
approaches o innovative classroom environments, coping with students' and parents’ diculties
emerging from the current situation, and the fear of contracting the disease are among the most
outstanding factors (Marshall et al., 2020; Pressley et al., 2021) that added to the teachers’ pre-existing
workload (Kyriacou, 2001; Corbin et al., 2019). Alves et al. (2020) showed that the perception of work-
related well-being decreased during the pandemic, with special concern about the professional future.
Allen et al. (2020) reported that teachers were more inclined to agree on the negative impact of the
pandemic on their mental health, and that female teachers presented higher work-related anxiety than
their male counterparts. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to cope with changing ways of
teaching as time progressed, which required innovative approaches that included new pedagogies while
assuming supporting functions for the students and their families (OECD, 2020). For online classes,
optimal use of digital resources was required both for teachers and students and/or their families, and for
in–person classes, the use of masks and respecting physical distancing was mandatory. Interestingly, a
report on the opening of schools in Uruguay in 2020 (Alarcón & Mendez, 2020) noted that among a series
of measures specically created to mitigate teachers’ concerns, an emotional containment plan aimed at
protecting staff members was being the least concrete point at the moment. It is important to note that,
during the time we collected our data, participants’ teaching approaches oscillated between in-person and
distance learning depending on each teacher and class’ specic situation at each given moment.
Similar results regarding stress and well-being post-training were observed in the KY group, decreasing
stress and increasing well-being, with large effect sizes. However, in this group, the decrease in the
perceived stress post-training was transitory, since the analysis of the long-term results showed an
increase from post-training to follow-up. These results showed large effect sizes. This might be
suggesting that the KY group beneted from the practice but did not consolidate it as a habit or did not
develop the skills necessary for continued practice. When contrasting MSC versus KY training effects on
stress and well-being, no differences were found post-training or three months later.
In this work, we have paid special attention to empathy. Training in MSC positively impacted the
perceived empathy, since perspective-taking increased and personal distress decreased post-training, with
large effect sizes. These results are consistent with previous research using the same psychometric
instrument (Davis, 1983), showing higher perspective-taking and lower personal distress in relation to
increased self-compassion (Neff & Pommier, 2013; Birnie et al, 2010). Such outcomes were expected
since cultivating self-compassion contributes to compassionately approaching others and connecting
with their needs (Wiklund & Wagner, 2013). It also improves self-caring, thus permitting such connection
without neglecting self-care (Neff, 2003; Solomon et al., 2021). Perspective-taking is a central dimension
Page 16/37
of cognitive empathy that involves the experience of putting oneself in another person’s shoes and
understanding their situation (Preston & Hofelich, 2012). However, if this is accompanied by an
overwhelming preoccupation due to sharing others’ negative emotions, the motivation is towards
relieving one's own discomfort and not that of others (Eisenberg & Eggum, 2009). Personal distress is an
unpleasant response that emerges when the other’s experience of suffering cannot be separated from the
personal one, focused on the self rather than the other. As such, personal distress would promote putting
into action self-protective avoidance behaviors to the detriment of altruistic attitudes (Preston & Hofelich,
2012; Decety, 2010). As proposed by Neff (Neff, 2023), by increasing perspective-taking and reducing
personal distress, self-compassion enables reducing the separation between individuals.
With regard to the KY training, no differences in the perception of empathy were found either post-training
or at follow-up.
Analyzing the long-term effects of the MSC program on perceived empathy, the personal distress
diminished post-training and remained at follow-up, exhibiting large effect sizes. This may indicate an
ongoing process, with long-lasting effects on self-kindness as a protective factor in promoting self-
regulation when coping with negative emotions (Allen & Leary, 2010). However, no change was observed
concerning perspective-taking three months later.
The impact of the MSC training on personal distress became evident also when comparing empathy
components between groups, with lower levels of personal distress in the MSC group than in the KY
group post-training, with moderate effect size.
Practices of the MSC training such as "Compassion with Equanimity" focus on balancing compassion for
others with compassion towards oneself, as a means of sustaining empathic behaviors while self-
providing kindness and support (Neff & Germer, 2013). The self-kindness cultivated by these kinds of
practices may be reected on the results hereby reported.
Although the IRI is the most widely used instrument to assess empathy, it relies on self-beliefs about one's
own empathic abilities (Hall & Schwartz, 2019). Thus, it was our interest to also explore the ability to infer
the content of others’ feelings and thoughts by performing the EPT. We assessed empathic abilities by
means of an EPT at pre-, post-training and follow-up. The performance of this experimental task allowed
for assessing empathic abilities in the context of intentional or accidental harm (Baez et al., 2014, 2016,
2017). The intentionality comprehension of the inicted harm, the empathic concern and the personal
distress were evaluated. As posed by Ickes (2009) and Baez (2014), self-reports can be effective in
measuring how empathic the participants regard themselves, while experimental tasks are more precise
at measuring how they infer other’s thoughts and feelings, which is essential for successful social
interaction (Decety & Jackson, 2004).
Consistent with the effects on self-perception of empathy, the MSC training impacted cognitive empathy
assessed by the EPT, since the accuracy in the intentionality comprehension increased post-training, with
a large effect size. This reects the capacity to take the other’s perspective, by understanding and
Page 17/37
recognizing other's intentions, motivations and emotional state (Decety & Jackson, 2004). Such
outcomes were observed only when the harm was intentional, which is described as a common nding in
previous studies employing EPT (Decety et al., 2012; Baez et al., 2014, 2016, 2017). As argued by Baez et
al. (2014), accidental harm is not as conspicuous as intentional, thus leading to greater ambiguity and
hindering the process of attributing intentionality. Furthermore, moral transgressions are interpreted as
more serious when they are intentional than accidental (Blair & Blair, 2009), while higher arousal has been
reported when harm is intentional (Decety et al., 2012).
However, no effects of the MSC program were observed post-training on the affective empathy
dimensions studied with the EPT.
No changes in cognitive or affective empathy were observed when assessing the EPT outcomes at
follow-up.
It is important to note that more conspicuous outcomes resulting from the MSC training were observed
for the self-reported than the EPT instrument to assess empathy. In this regard, it should be taken into
account that self-reported responses could be inuenced by social desirability (Baez et al, 2017;
Schumacker & Hoi, 2017). As discussed in Erten (2015), it would be dicult to disagree on altruistic
purposes when being asked, especially when altruistic reasons prevail among teachers’ motivations, so
these types of instruments could be reecting responses perceived by the participants as socially
desirable. Aldrup et al. (2022) posit that a teacher's implicit caring role may lead to the assumption of
possessing higher empathy levels than real. In this concern, it is argued that EPT paradigms approach
empathy less explicitly than self-evaluation and may elicit more automatic responses, thus eluding the
inuence of social desirability (Baez et al., 2017).
Concerning the KY intervention, although the KY training did not affect perceived empathy, it impacted
affective empathy when measured by the EPT. Intriguingly, while the personal distress for intentional
harm diminished both short-term and long-term, a decrease was also observed in the empathic concern
for intentional harm post-training. The effect size was large in all cases. This is interesting, since
empathic concern and personal distress are respectively driven by altruistic and egoistic motivations
(Fabi et al., 2019).
The outcomes above mentioned were not reected in the comparison between groups, since no
differences were found when contrasting MSC versus KY training effects on the EPT.
Summarizing, the results presented in this study show that virtual MSC training was effective in
improving mindfulness and self-compassion skills in Uruguayan primary school teachers. Furthermore,
this practice led to stress reduction and increased well-being, as well as improving both affective and
cognitive empathy dimensions. Remarkably, all these signicant ndings account for moderate to large
effect sizes.
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By the end of the MSC intervention, training had improved the mindfulness skill, both assessed by the
FFMQ and the SCS. As Neff explains, mindfulness provides the foundation for self-compassion, since it
allows recognizing we are in pain while it prevents us from engaging in harsh criticism and over-
identication. Being aware, we can adopt a compassionate perspective towards the challenges we are to
cope with (Neff, 2023). This practice also improved compassionate elements of self-compassion,
although the uncompassionate self-judgment also increased. However, it can be argued that, since self-
kindness and self-judgment are two poles of a continuum (Neff, 2016), the transition from one to the
other was in progress by the end of MSC training.
As expected, stress and well-being also improved by the end of the MSC training, even in the context of a
pandemic that presented multiple challenges as previously described. Indeed, self-compassion could
have represented a protective resource for better coping with the Covid-19 threat (Deniz, 2021).
Furthermore, self-perception of empathic abilities improved with this practice, with increased perspective-
taking and decreased personal distress, two fundamental elements that allow prosocial behaviors.
Mounting evidence supports that the practice of meditation, in particular based on mindfulness and
loving-kindness, helps improve prosocial behaviors (Luberto, 2018). Although the underlying mechanisms
are not clear yet, it is argued that these practices lead to improved well-being, emotional regulation and
tolerance to distress, which would permit better coping with the sufferings of others (Luberto, 2018; Neff,
2023). In this line, Gilbert poses that compassionate behaviors increase parasympathetic activity, while
uncompassionate actions promote sympathetic responses (Gilbert 2005). Supporting this proposal, Poli
et al. (2012) review reported that mindfulness-based interventions promote parasympathetic action and
increase the vagal tone, thus counteracting the stress response (Kok et al., 2013; Poli et al, 2012). When
measuring empathic abilities post-training in MSC by an EPT, results concerning cognitive empathy by
testing the accuracy in intentionality comprehension were consistent with self-perceptions. However, no
differences were found concerning affective empathy post-training with this task.
Interestingly, when comparing the short-term effects of the MSC versus the KY interventions on self-
perceptions of mindfulness, self-compassion, stress, well-being and empathy, only the latter showed
differences among groups, with lower personal distress in the MSC than the KY group. In this regard, it is
important to note that the KY intervention positively impacted on mindfulness skills, stress and well-
being. However, although KY increased self-kindness, it also increased two uncompassionate elements of
self-compassion, and empathic self-perception did not change. Despite these ndings on self-reports,
personal distress diminished post-training in KY when measuring with the EPT.
The comparison of short-term effects of both interventions on the EPT paradigm showed no differences
as well.
In a previous study comparing a mindfulness-based intervention, including self-compassion, hatha yoga,
and a control group with no intervention, both intervention groups increased mindfulness and decreased
stress in comparison to the control group at follow-up (one month later). However, self-compassion only
increased in the mindfulness-based intervention (Falsa, 2016)
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Long-term effects of the MSC training -three months later- were studied in a smaller sample due to the
dropout. Remarkably, MSC impacted favorably on components of mindfulness, self-compassion and
affective empathy self-reports. However, the effects of MSC on stress and well-being did not sustain over
time, leading us to consider these results in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time. No long-
term effects of the MSC training were observed on the EPT. The KY intervention also led to long-term
increases in perceived mindfulness and self-compassion components, and to personal distress decrease
when assessed by the EPT.
When comparing MSC with KY training long-term effects both on self-reports and the EPT, only
mindfulness skills were higher in the MSC than in the KY group.
All ndings emerging from the EPT were observed only for intentional harm, consistent with previous
reports (Decety et al., 2012; Baez et al., 2014, 2016, 2017).
Conclusions
This is the rst study reporting the effects of the MSC program (Neff & Germer, 2013) on mindfulness,
self-compassion, stress, well-being and empathy in school teachers. Our results show that a virtual MSC
training during pandemics improved mindfulness and self-compassion in Uruguayan teachers. MSC and
KY -the active control- shared some post-training effects on mindfulness abilities, an expected nding
since both practices rely on directing attention towards breathing and the body. Positive self-compassion
components and empathy components increased with the MSC training, which is in line with the idea of
the connection between self-compassion and compassion to others (Gilbert, 2009). Being MSC and KY
contemplative practices, both interventions effectively decreased stress and increased well-being,
although stress in the KY group increased again by follow-up. Comparison of the effects of MSC and KY
trainings showed lower personal distress post-training and higher mindfulness abilities at follow-up in the
MSC group. The favorable results elicited by MSC training on self-compassion and empathy evidence the
impact of cultivating self-compassion and support the advantages of training such ability. Effect sizes
here reported were high in most cases, and never small, stressing the relevance of the results.
Our results provide new evidence to support the implementation of the MSC program as a means to
promote well-being and reduce stress of primary school teachers while improving their self-compassion
and empathy.
Limitations
Limitations to this study should be mentioned. Concerning the number of participants,
a larger sample might have led to more conspicuous outcomes, with more differences emerging in the
comparisons performed, both within groups and between groups. Dropout by follow-up reduced even
more the sample, obliging to separately assess data from the pre- and post-training and data from pre-,
post-training and follow-up.
Page 20/37
Moreover, despite the great interest manifested by those interested in participating, only 10% of them met
the inclusion criteria. Challenging issues related to the pandemic context should also be mentioned, such
as achieving the participants’ adherence despite the virtuality and the drop off mainly for medical
reasons or related circumstances. Ideally, the use of profession-specic questionnaires to assess
teachers’ empathy would have been convenient, but such instruments are not available in Spanish yet.
Future directions
Although the characteristics of the interventions here implemented do not allow high numbers of
participants, future research on this topic may benet from larger samples to improve reliability, since
small samples may be susceptible to inated effect sizes (Button et al., 2013). Future studies should
record the participant’s percentage of attendance to the training sessions in order to consider such
information for the interpretation of the results. Furthermore, information regarding the continuity of
practice in the months following the interventions should be gathered.
When assessing the effects of a particular meditation-based intervention, a control group receiving no
training would be convenient in addition to an active intervention control group. Finally, more specic
questionnaires adapted to our population will become necessary.
Declarations
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to the big team of collaborators for their invaluable work in the different steps
of this research, from the students interested in joining this investigation to the most eminent scientists
who provided their insight and skills for this purpose. A great deal of gratitude to the instructors who
participated with affection, commitment and dedication, and last but not least our sincere gratitude to the
teachers who welcomed this initiative and felt motivated to contribute to the development of innovative
scientic knowledge in our country.
The present research was supported by the “Fondo Sectorial de Educación: CFE investiga” and the
National Research and Innovation Agency (ANII, FSED_3_2019_1_157921) and PEDECIBA.
Ethics approval and consent
The protocol of this study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the IIBCE (#001,
2018).Participants gave their written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Figures
Figure 1
Empathy for pain task. Modied version of the task developed by Baez et al. (2017). Examples of the
three situations of the EPT -intentional harm, neutral, and accidental harm- are shown in the rows.
Durations of the presentations of the pictures were 500, 200 and 1000 ms from left to right.
Page 29/37
Figure 2
Psychometric tests comparing pre- vs post- Mindful Self-Compassion training (n=19). Asterisks indicate
signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range. a.
FFMQ =
Five Facet
Mindfulness Questionnaire; b.
SCS =
Self-Compassion Scale; c.
IRI =
Interpersonal Reactivity Index; d.
PSS
=
Perceived Stress Scale; e.
WHO-5 =
World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index
Page 30/37
Figure 3
Psychometric tests comparing pre- vs post- Kundalini Yoga training (n=18). Asterisks indicate signicant
differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range. a.
FFMQ
= Five Facet Mindfulness
Questionnaire; b.
SCS
= Self-Compassion Scale; c.
PSS
= Perceived Stress Scale; d.
WHO-5 =
World Health
Organization-Five Well-Being Index
Page 31/37
Figure 4
Interpersonal Reactivity Index comparing Mindful Self-Compassion (n=19) vs Kundalini Yoga (n=18)
trainings at post-training. Asterisks indicate signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the
interquartile range.
Note. KY
= Kundalini Yoga;
MSC
=Mindful Self-Compassion
Page 32/37
Figure 5
Psychometric tests comparing Mindful Self-Compassion training at pre-, post-training and follow-up
(n=10). Asterisks indicate signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range. a.
FFMQ
= Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; b.
SCS
= Self-Compassion Scale; c.
IRI =
Interpersonal
Reactivity Index; d.
WHO-5 =
World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index
Page 33/37
Figure 6
Psychometric tests comparing Mindful Self-Compassion training at pre-, post-training and follow-up
(n=10). Asterisks indicate signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range. a.
FFMQ
= Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; b.
SCS
= Self-Compassion Scale; c.
IRI =
Interpersonal
Reactivity Index; d.
WHO-5 =
World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index
Page 34/37
Figure 7
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire comparing Mindful Self-Compassion (n=10) vs Kundalini Yoga
(n=13) trainings at follow-up. Asterisks indicate signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the
interquartile range
Page 35/37
Note. FFMQ
= Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire;
KY
= Kundalini Yoga;
MSC
= Mindful Self-
Compassion
Figure 8
Empathy for pain task comparing pre- vs post- Kundalini Yoga training (n=15). Asterisks indicate
signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range.
Note. Int =
intentional;
Acc
= Accidental;
EC
= Empathic Concern;
PD
= Personal Distress
Page 36/37
Figure 9
Empathy for pain task comparing Kundalini Yoga training at pre-, post-training and follow-up (n=12).
Asterisks indicate signicant differences (p<0.05). Error bars indicate the interquartile range.
Note. Int =
intentional;
Acc
= Accidental;
EC
= Empathic Concern;
PD
= Personal Distress;
FU
= follow-up
Page 37/37
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