Improvements in Compassion and Fears of Compassion throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multinational Study

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cris.lastimport.scopus2025-08-30T03:12:23Z
dc.abstract.enDuring large-scale disasters, social support, caring behaviours, and compassion are shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes. This multi-national study aimed to assess the fluctuations in compassion over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents (Time 1 n = 4156, Time 2 n = 980, Time 3 n = 825) from 23 countries completed online self-report questionnaires measuring the flows of compassion (i.e., Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales) and fears of compassion toward self and others and from others (i.e., Fears of Compassion Scales) and mental health at three time-points during a 10-month period. The results for the flows of compassion showed that self-compassion increased at Time 3. Compassion for others increased at Time 2 and 3 for the general population, but in contrast, it decreased in health professionals, possibly linked to burnout. Compassion from others did not change in Time 2, but it did increase significantly in Time 3. For fears of compassion, fears of self-compassion reduced over time, fears of compassion for others showed more variation, reducing for the general public but increasing for health professionals, whilst fears of compassion from others did not change over time. Health professionals, those with compassion training, older adults, and women showed greater flows of compassion and lower fears of compassion compared with the general population, those without compassion training, younger adults, and men. These findings highlight that, in a period of shared suffering, people from multiple countries and nationalities show a cumulative improvement in compassion and reduction in fears of compassion, suggesting that, when there is intense suffering, people become more compassionate to self and others and less afraid of, and resistant to, compassion
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii i Prawa w Poznaniu
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorMatos, Marcela
dc.contributor.authorMcEwan, Kirsten
dc.contributor.authorKanovský, Martin
dc.contributor.authorHalamová, Júlia
dc.contributor.authorSteindl, Stanley R.
dc.contributor.authorFerreira, Nuno
dc.contributor.authorLinharelhos, Mariana
dc.contributor.authorRijo, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorAsano, Kenichi
dc.contributor.authorVilas, Sara P.
dc.contributor.authorMárquez, Margarita G.
dc.contributor.authorGregório, Sónia
dc.contributor.authorBrito-Pons, Gonzalo
dc.contributor.authorLucena-Santos, Paola
dc.contributor.authorda Silva Oliveira, Margareth
dc.contributor.authorde Souza, Erika Leonardo
dc.contributor.authorLlobenes, Lorena
dc.contributor.authorGumiy, Natali
dc.contributor.authorIleana Costa, Maria
dc.contributor.authorHabib, Noor
dc.contributor.authorHakem, Reham
dc.contributor.authorKhrad, Hussain
dc.contributor.authorAlzahrani, Ahmad
dc.contributor.authorCheli, Simone
dc.contributor.authorPetrocchi, Nicola
dc.contributor.authorTholouli, Elli
dc.contributor.authorIssari, Philia
dc.contributor.authorSimos, Gregoris
dc.contributor.authorLunding-Gregersen, Vibeke
dc.contributor.authorElklit, Ask
dc.contributor.authorKolts, Russell
dc.contributor.authorKelly, Allison C.
dc.contributor.authorBortolon, Catherine
dc.contributor.authorDelamillieure, Pascal
dc.contributor.authorPaucsik, Marine
dc.contributor.authorWahl, Julia E.
dc.contributor.authorZięba, Mariusz
dc.contributor.authorZatorski, Mateusz
dc.contributor.authorKomendziński, Tomasz
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Shuge
dc.contributor.authorBasran, Jaskaran
dc.contributor.authorKagialis, Antonios
dc.contributor.authorKirby, James
dc.contributor.authorGilbert, Paul
dc.date.access2023-01-19
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-11T13:40:49Z
dc.date.available2024-01-11T13:40:49Z
dc.date.created2023-01-17
dc.date.issued2023-01-19
dc.description.abstract<jats:p>During large-scale disasters, social support, caring behaviours, and compassion are shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes. This multi-national study aimed to assess the fluctuations in compassion over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents (Time 1 n = 4156, Time 2 n = 980, Time 3 n = 825) from 23 countries completed online self-report questionnaires measuring the flows of compassion (i.e., Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales) and fears of compassion toward self and others and from others (i.e., Fears of Compassion Scales) and mental health at three time-points during a 10-month period. The results for the flows of compassion showed that self-compassion increased at Time 3. Compassion for others increased at Time 2 and 3 for the general population, but in contrast, it decreased in health professionals, possibly linked to burnout. Compassion from others did not change in Time 2, but it did increase significantly in Time 3. For fears of compassion, fears of self-compassion reduced over time, fears of compassion for others showed more variation, reducing for the general public but increasing for health professionals, whilst fears of compassion from others did not change over time. Health professionals, those with compassion training, older adults, and women showed greater flows of compassion and lower fears of compassion compared with the general population, those without compassion training, younger adults, and men. These findings highlight that, in a period of shared suffering, people from multiple countries and nationalities show a cumulative improvement in compassion and reduction in fears of compassion, suggesting that, when there is intense suffering, people become more compassionate to self and others and less afraid of, and resistant to, compassion.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.issue3
dc.description.physical1-17
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume20
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/ijerph20031845
dc.identifier.issn1660-4601
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/357
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9915071/
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.encompassion
dc.subject.enfears of compassion
dc.subject.enlongitudinal
dc.subject.enmultilevel modelling
dc.subject.enmultinational study
dc.subject.enCOVID-19
dc.subject.enpandemic
dc.swps.sciencecloudnosend
dc.titleImprovements in Compassion and Fears of Compassion throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multinational Study
dc.title.journalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle