A Four-Week Online Compassion and Gratitude Training Programme to Enhance Emotion Regulation: Implications for Stress Management and Healthcare Leadership
Lotte Bock, Erik Riedel, Madiha Rana
Healthcare December 20, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare14010012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | Leaders in Germany from diverse occupational sectors, recruited via LinkedIn and Xing |
| Interventions | Loving-kindness meditation Gratitude journaling |
| Duration | Four-week program, measured pre- and post-intervention |
| Measures | Emotional Competence Questionnaire (EKF), comprising recognising one's own feelings (RU), recognising others' feelings (RO), regulating one's own feelings (RC), and expressing feelings (RE) |
| Key findings | The intervention group showed greater improvement in emotion regulation than the wait-list control group, with no significant group differences for recognizing one's own feelings, recognizing others' feelings, or expressing feelings. The authors suggest brief self-directed compassion and gratitude practices may selectively strengthen emotion regulation, a skill relevant to resilience in leadership roles. |
Abstract
Background: Emotional intelligence (EI), particularly the ability to regulate one’s emotions, is a key protective factor against stress and burnout in high-demand occupations, including leadership and healthcare. Compassion and gratitude practices have been proposed as brief, scalable methods to strengthen emotion regulation, yet empirical evidence from randomised controlled trials remains limited.
Objective: This study evaluated whether a four-week, self-directed online programme combining daily loving-kindness meditation and gratitude journaling improves EI among leaders.
Methods: Forty-five leaders in Germany from diverse occupational sectors were recruited via LinkedIn and Xing and were randomised using a computer-generated random sequence to an intervention or wait-list control group. EI was measured pre- and post-intervention with the Emotional Competence Questionnaire (EKF), comprising recognising one’s own feelings (RU), recognising others’ feelings (RO), regulating one’s own feelings (RC; primary outcome), and expressing feelings (RE). Adherence was reported in categorical form (e.g., daily, 3–5×/week, 1–2×/week). Treatment effects were tested using mixed-design ANOVAs.
Results: A significant Group × Time interaction emerged for emotion regulation (RC), indicating greater improvement in the intervention group compared with the control group. No significant interaction effects were found for RU, RO, or RE. Adherence data did not permit dose–response analysis.
Conclusions: A brief, self-directed online compassion and gratitude programme selectively improved emotion regulation—the EI facet most strongly linked to stress buffering and resilience. Although effects did not extend to other EI dimensions, findings suggest that low-threshold digital practices may strengthen a core emotional skill relevant to psychological well-being in leadership roles. Because the sample did not primarily comprise healthcare professionals, implications for healthcare settings re-main conceptual; targeted trials in clinical populations are warranted.