Compassion Meditation Training for Hospital Chaplain Residents: A Pilot Study.
Marcia J Ash, Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Ralph J DiClemente, Marianne P Florian, Patricia K Palmer, Kathryn Wehrmeyer, Lobsang Tenzin Negi, George H. Grant, Charles L. Raison, Jennifer S Mascaro
Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 2021 DOI: 10.1080/08854726.2020.1723189 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Longitudinal, quasi-experimental design Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | Hospital chaplain residents |
| Intervention | Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) |
| Duration | 4-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Burnout Compassion satisfaction Pastoral education Secondary trauma stress |
| Key findings | Compassion meditation training (CBCT) incorporated into clinical pastoral education significantly reduced burnout and anxiety among chaplain residents, but effects were not maintained at 4-month follow-up. |
Abstract
This study examines the effectiveness of incorporating compassion meditation training into a clinical pastoral education (CPE) curriculum to enhance compassion satisfaction and reduce burnout among hospital chaplain residents. Specifically, a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design was used to examine the impact of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT), a group-delivered compassion meditation intervention. Hospital chaplain residents (n = 15) were assigned to participate in a CBCT intervention or a waitlist comparison group. Chaplains assigned to CBCT reported significant decreases in burnout and anxiety compared to the waitlist group; effects were not maintained at 4-month follow-up. Other outcomes, including compassion satisfaction, did not differ significantly but were trending in the expected direction. Findings suggest that compassion meditation training incorporated into CPE promotes chaplain wellbeing, although it may be necessary to extend CBCT throughout residency to sustain effects.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Compassion As an Intervention to Attune to Universal Suffering of Self and Others in Conflicts: A Translational Framework. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Loving-kindness and compassion meditations in the workplace: A meta-analysis and future prospects. Stress and Health February 1, 2024
- Learning Compassion and Meditation: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Experience of Novice Meditators. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
- Pilot Study of Compassion Meditation Training to Improve Well-being Among Older Adults Clinical Gerontologist November 12, 2020
Cites 10
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Compassion meditation enhances empathic accuracy and related neural activity Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience September 5, 2012
- Effect of heartfulness meditation on burnout, emotional wellness, and telomere length in health care professionals Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives 2017
and 5 more in the library