The Comparison of Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Group Therapy and Mindfulness Meditation Group Therapy Added Self-Compassion Meditation for the Female Patients Suffering from Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Adding compassion meditation to a mindfulness meditation program yields greater improvements in pain, quality of life, depression, anxiety, acceptance, and life satisfaction for chronic musculoskeletal pain patients than mindfulness meditation alone. Twenty participants attended seven weekly 90-minute sessions; the compassion group received an additional 20 minutes per session. The mindfulness-only group showed significant improvements in pain, depression, and state anxiety, but not in other psychological measures. The compassion-added group improved on all measures, and benefits persisted at follow-up.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: Choric Musculoskeletal pain patients suffer from emotional distress such as depression and anxiety and also experience much more discomfort in their lives. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a Mindfulness meditation group therapy and Mindfulness meditation group therapy added Compassion meditation on pain, quality of life, and psychological features in Chronic Musculoskeletal pain patients. Methods: 20 participants received 7 weekly sessions in mindfulness meditation training program, which take about 90 minutes each. Only Compassion Meditation group received 20 minutes added program. Measures included Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Quality of life (WHOQOL-BRIF), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y (STAI-Y), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-16 (AAQ-16), Experiences Questionnaire (EQ), Life Satisfaction Expectancy scales (LSES). All the variables were measured at three time points: pre, post, and follow up implementation. Results: The t-test results of the participants before and after the Mindfulness Meditation group showed statistically significant improvement in their Pain (t=2.64, p<.05), Depression (t=5.579, p<.05), and State Anxiety (t=2.223, p<.05), but not in another positive psychological features. Added Compassion Meditation group showed statistically significant improvement all of measures (Pain: t=3.180, p<.01, Quality of life: t=4.781, p<.01, Depression: t=2.208, p<.01, State Anxiety: t=3.838, p<.01, Trait Anxiety: t=3.208, p<.01, Acceptance: t=−2.635, p<.05, Experience: t=−3.041, p<.01, Life satisfaction: t=−2.23, p<.05). The follow-up implementation showed the persistence of beneficial changes. Conclusions: Added compassion meditation is more effective than mindfulness meditation for chronic musculoskeletal pain. There are greater benefits for alleviating pain, improving quality of life and other psychological features that can be gained from performing added compassion meditation rather than doing mindfulness meditation solely.