| |
| author |
Kiersten Greiner
| | title |
The Integration of Self-Compassion Programs into School Curriculums
| | abstract |
During adolescence, drastic changes in physicality, social schemas and psychological
health present emerging young adults with an array of challenges. Without effective coping
strategies, they are more vulnerable to the development of various mental health disorders.
Self-compassion has been shown to predict psychological health and overall well-being in the
presence of adversity. Given this, the current study tested the effectiveness of an intervention at
improving adolescents' self-compassion. Thirty-one 9th and 10th grade students who attended a
private K-12th school were automatically enrolled in an 8-week self-compassion implemented
during the school day. Eight students consented to data collection to measure their
self-compassion, stress, optimism, self-reflection/insight, and happiness before and after the
program. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed there was no significant main effect of time,
indicating that the participants' self-compassion scores after the program did not increase
compared to the scores they had before the program. There was a strong positive correlation
between the change in self-compassion scores and pre- happiness scores, indicating that students
with a relatively high change in their self-compassion also tended to have relatively high
pre-happiness scores. The small sample size is indicative of the difficulties faced while
implementing this program into the school day. The results of this study speak to the need for
continued research to discover ways to reduce the barriers of integrating related programs into
school curriculums; its incorporation could be one method to help students successfully navigate
the challenges of adolescence and beyond.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2023)
|
| advisor |
Dr. Christopher Medvecky
|
| full text | KGreiner.pdf |
| |
