Effect of Self-Compassion Intervention on Resilience among Young Adults with Childhood Trauma

Abstract

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can be defined as the moderate to severe stressful experiences that occur when a child is exposed to varying types of abuse, neglect, or a traumatic living environment within the first 18 years of their life (Felitti et al. 1998; Hughes et al. 2017). Adverse Childhood Experiences or Childhood Trauma can be so damaging that the physical, emotional, social and psychological effects can last far into adulthood (Taylor, 2010). Exposure to these can make an individual vulnerable to depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental health disorders in the later stages of their life. The study was undertaken to detect the effect of Self-compassion intervention on Resilience among Young adults with Childhood Trauma. Using the 5 questions on Childhood Traumatic Experiences as a screening tool, the participants for the study were identified. These participants were then randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. A total of 16 participants were part of the study (8 participants in the experimental group and 8 participants in the control group). Participants in the experimental group received the Self-compassion intervention for 5 days and no intervention was given to the participants in the control group. Both the experimental and control group were then given the post-test using The Self Compassion Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale to measure Self-compassion and Resilience respectively. The results show that there is a significant difference in Self-compassion (U = 4.000, p = 0.003) and Resilience (U = 4.000, p = 0.003) between the experimental group and the control group. Thus, it can be concluded that Self-compassion intervention can be used to enhance Resilience in Young adults with Childhood Trauma.