The Effectiveness of Adolescent-Centered Mindfulness Training on Self-Compassion in Adolescent Boys with Psychological Insecurity

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of adolescent-centered mindfulness training on self-compassion among adolescent boys experiencing psychological insecurity. Methods and Materials: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages, including an experimental group and a control group. The statistical population consisted of adolescent boys with psychological insecurity in the city of Isfahan during the 2022–2023 academic year. Using convenience sampling, 60 eligible participants aged 14–18 years were selected and randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control (waitlist) group. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of adolescent-centered mindfulness training delivered in a group format, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Data were collected at three time points using standardized self-report measures of psychological insecurity and self-compassion. The intervention emphasized age-appropriate mindfulness practices, emotional awareness, acceptance, and compassion-based exercises. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance to examine within-group and between-group differences over time.

Findings: Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect of time on self-compassion, indicating meaningful changes across assessment points. A significant time × group interaction effect was observed, demonstrating that changes in self-compassion were significantly greater in the adolescent-centered mindfulness group compared with the control group. In addition, a significant between-groups effect indicated that the experimental group reported higher self-compassion scores overall than the control group. Effect size indices suggested moderate to large intervention effects, and statistical power values indicated robust reliability of the findings.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that adolescent-centered mindfulness training is an effective intervention for enhancing self-compassion in adolescent boys with psychological insecurity and may serve as a valuable preventive and therapeutic approach for promoting adolescent psychological well-being.