Volume 30, Issue 2, 2021
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.4066
The effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Group therapy on Perceived Stress in the Covid-19 Epidemic among the Academic women
Abstract
Background and objective: The Covid-19 virus epidemic, as a human catastrophe in the world, has endangered the bodies and souls of millions of people and has created high psychological stress among individuals that requires psychological intervention. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-focused group therapy on perceived stress caused by Covid-19 virus epidemic among academic women.
Method: The method of this quasi-experimental study was a pretest-posttest design with a control group and its statistical population consists of academic women, in the summer of 2021. Of these, 30 people were considered based on a statistical sample of the research design. They were replaced in experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). The data were collected online through Cohen et al.'s Perceived Stress Questionnaire. Compassion-focused therapy intervention sessions were conducted online based on Gilbert’s (2009) 8-session protocol of Compassionate Mind Training (CMT).
Results: The results of ANCOVA analysis indicated that compassion-focused group therapy was effective in reducing the perceived stress in the Covid-19 epidemic by 53% (p?0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study can be used to reduce stress in the Covid-19 epidemic through compassion-based group therapy.
Keywords
Perceived stress, Covid-19, compassion therapy, Covid-19 epidemic