Table 2.

Study details of selected papers exploring the effects of self-compassion training on work-related well-being outcomes.

Author(s), year. Country.	Sample and setting	Intervention details	Measures	Findings
Maratos et al. (2019). United Kingdom.	20 to 18 members of staff within a school specializing in educating 11–18-year-old children/adolescents excluded from mainstream education (2 did not complete the FSCRS and SCS-SF thus n = 18, and 1 did not complete MBI at post-assessment n = 19). Within-subject pre-post.	Six 2.5-h sessions on compassionate mind training (CMT) program over 12 weeks (one school term).	Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS), Forms of Self-Criticism and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS), Self-Compassion Scale Short-Form (SCS-SF), CMT Practice Scale, administered 2-month and 1-week before, and 1-month after intervention.	Self-compassion and reassured-self increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention with large effects.
Sansó et al. (2019). Spain.	50 professional carers, divided into Mindful-Based Stress Reduction Training (MBSRT) and Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), 25 each (17 females and 2 males with age 42.16 ± 7.67 in MBSRT and 14 females and 5 males with age 48.95 ± 9.84 in CCT). Self-selected non-equivalent groups design.	Each training was provided for 60 h; extensive weekend training × 3 (3-month interval each time) and weekly sessions.	Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), SCS, Short version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Short ProQol), administered pre-post.	CCT increased non-reactivity and perspective taking significantly, while reduced self-judgement significantly.
Smith et al. (2019). United Kingdom.	Multi-disciplinary team (n = 34 at pre-intervention and n = 27 at post-intervention) in adult eating disorder wards. Age and gender balance not reported. Fifty-five patient participants were excluded, as non-workers. Within-subject pre-post.	8 workshops focusing on well-being including self-compassion, positive communication, and stress-coping.	Five-item well-being questionnaire.	Self-worth to take time for themselves, and feeling good on the day increased significantly from pre- to post-intervention.
Delaney (2018). United Kingdom.	13 female nurses specialized in Cancer Care, Cardiology, Maternity, Midwifery, Intensive Care, and Urology. Average age 44 years old, and average work experience 21 years old (representable for general nurses).	Mindful Self-Compassion training (MSC): 8 of 2.5-h weekly sessions and a half-day retreat. Daily practice was encouraged.	SCS, Frieburg Short Mindfulness Scale, ProQOL, and Conor-Davidson Resilience Scale	Self-compassion and resilience increased significantly, and secondary trauma and burnout decreased significantly (all large effect size).
Rao and Kemper (2017). United States.	153 health professionals including nurses, physicians, and social workers, attended a compassion session, out of 177 (148 females, 29 males) who attended at least one of the three sessions. Within-subject pre-post.	1-h online meditation sessions focusing on compassion. The other 2 sessions focused on gratitude and positive words were excluded from this review.	SCS-SF and Confidence in Providing Compassionate Care Scale	Significant improvements in self-compassion overall, and within each subcategory of self-compassion: self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification. Also increased confidence in providing compassionate care to others.
Sansó et al. (2017). Spain.	19 professional caregivers of patients with intellectual disability (18 females, mean age = 40.47 years old). Within-subject pre-post.	Cultivating Emotional Balance program, based on mindfulness and compassion. 42 h in total (4-h sessions × 10 and 2-h session × 1).	SCS, FFMQ, EQ, Professional Self-Care Scale (PSCS), Brief Symptom Questionnaire (BSQ)	Meaningful increases in both the FFM and de-centering. Improved self-care and self-compassion. Reduced depression, anxiety, panic, and somatized illness.
Scarlet et al. (2017). United States.	62 (12 males and 50 females; Age 51.23 ± 10.77 years old). Within-subject pre-post.	Compassion cultivation training (8 times of 2-h weekly group sessions).	SCS-SF, Fears of Compassion Scale, Toronto Mindfulness Scale, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction, and Interpersonal Conflict Scale, administered in the first, middle, and last weeks of CCT, with 1-month follow-up.	Significant improvements in participants' self-compassion, mindfulness, and interpersonal conflict scores
Suyi et al. (2017). Singapore.	37 mental health professionals (7 males and 30 females, 19 of them in age range 25-35 years old). Within-subject pre-post.	2-h weekly mindfulness session for 6 weeks, including engagement with practice, awareness on stuckness, reacting and responding to stress, communication, and compassion toward others and self. Additional discussion time among participants and 30-min daily meditation homework.	SCS-SF, FFMQ, CS, PSS, and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OBI), measured pre-post, and a 3-month follow-up.	Significant improvement in 4 of the 5 mindfulness facets (observe, describe, non-judge, and non-react) and self-compassion both from pre to post, and pre to follow-up. Significant improvement in compassion for others but only significant between pre and post (not pre and follow-up). Significant reduction in stress but only between pre and post, not pre and follow-up.
Beshai et al. (2016). United Kingdom.	89 teachers and staff from secondary school (62 females and 27 males), self-selected to either intervention group (n = 49, who received school-based mindfulness training) or comparison group (n = 40, who received general mindfulness training). Nonequivalent groups design.	8-week school-based mindfulness training, consisting of 9 sessions (75 min each), covering body scan, cultivating self-compassion and discussion on school-related issues, with homework: 10–40 min for 6 days a week. Comparison group received a group intervention based on MBSR and MBCT.	SCS (only 2 subscales: self-judgement and self-kindness), FFMQ, PSS, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), administered pre- and post-training.	Stress decreased and well-being increased in the intervention group, in comparison to the comparison group. Large effect on all outcome measures in the intervention group, when controlling for baseline differences with comparison group. Self-compassion increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention in intervention group while it did not in comparison group.
Pidgeon et al. (2014). Australia.	44 human services professionals (40 females and 4 males, Age 40.7 ± 12.28 years) divided into the intervention group and control group. RCT.	Brief Mindfulness with Metta Training Program (MMTP), targeting the enhancement of mindfulness and self-compassion in a retreat format	Resilience Scale, FFMQ and SCS administered pre-/post-training, 1 and 4 months follow-up.	Significant improvements observed in mindfulness and self-compassion at 1 and 4 months post-intervention, and in resilience at 4 months post-intervention for the intervention group.