Evaluating the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy on psychological outcomes in medical students: A pilot randomized controlled trial

IF 2.5 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

British Journal of Health Psychology Pub Date : 2025-10-16 DOI:10.1111/bjhp.70029

Asgar Alimohamadi, Mahdi Ghasemzadeh, Fatemeh Baberi, Hadis Rostami, Fuschia Sirois, Hossein Matin, Negar Asgharipour, Elham Nikfar

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Abstract

Purpose

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) was the focus of this pilot study to identify its effectiveness in improving psychological outcomes among medical students. Medical students were chosen as the target of the study, as they experience lower levels of psychological well-being than the general population.

Methods

This study employed a randomized controlled design to randomly assign medical students to an 8-week online CFT or to a wait-list control group (WL). Before, immediately after, and 2 months following the intervention, they completed self-report assessments. Standardized measures were used to assess outcomes, namely psychological well-being, resilience, and fear of happiness. Data were analysed with a repeated-measures mixed ANOVA.

Results

As compared with the WL, significant improvements have been observed in psychological well-being and resilience, and a notable reduction in fear of happiness after implementing CFT. Additionally, while no negative effects of daily exercise were observed, these effects were maintained at follow-up.

Conclusion

The results suggest that CFT can improve well-being and resilience in medical students and reduce their fear of happiness. While the authors highlighted the importance of incorporating this type of process-based therapy into educational programmes, they pointed out that CFT is crucial for maintaining the mental health of future physicians and fostering compassionate patient care.

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评价以同情为中心的治疗对医学生心理结果的有效性：一项试点随机对照试验。

目的：以同情为中心的治疗（CFT）是本初步研究的重点，以确定其在改善医学生心理结果方面的有效性。医学院学生被选为研究对象，因为他们的心理健康水平低于一般人群。方法：本研究采用随机对照设计，将医学生随机分为8周在线CFT组和等候名单对照组（WL）。在干预前、干预后和干预后2个月，他们完成了自我报告评估。标准化的测量方法被用来评估结果，即心理健康、恢复力和对幸福的恐惧。数据分析采用重复测量混合方差分析。结果：与WL相比，实施CFT后，心理健康和弹性显著改善，对幸福的恐惧显著减少。此外，虽然没有观察到日常运动的负面影响，但这些影响在随访中保持不变。结论：CFT能提高医学生的幸福感和心理弹性，减少医学生对幸福的恐惧。虽然作者强调了将这种基于过程的治疗纳入教育计划的重要性，但他们指出，CFT对于维持未来医生的心理健康和培养富有同情心的病人护理至关重要。

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来源期刊

British Journal of Health Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

14.10

自引率

1.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The focus of the British Journal of Health Psychology is to publish original research on various aspects of psychology that are related to health, health-related behavior, and illness throughout a person's life. The journal specifically seeks articles that are based on health psychology theory or discuss theoretical matters within the field.