Feasibility of a brief, remote self-compassion intervention for employed mothers

Abstract

Although existing literature suggests that working mothers’ mental health is challenged by several sources of psychological stress, few interventions have targeted this population. The present study investigated the feasibility and potential utility of a newly developed 2-week self-compassion intervention for enhancing well-being among Italian working mothers.

Eighty working mothers agreed to participate in the study (mean age 45.20, SD = 10.63, age range 25–60). The intervention lasted two weeks and was delivered remotely. Using a pre–post within-subjects design, feasibility was assessed in multiple domains (recruitment capability, acceptability, implementation, practicality). Moreover, participants completed both baseline and post-intervention assessments of well-being measures (i.e., perceived stress, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and flourishing) to preliminarily evaluate pre-to post-intervention changes. The results showed that the intervention was feasible in all the domains evaluated. Participants showed significant improvements in pre–post scores of positive affect and satisfaction with life, as well as significant decreases in negative affect and perceived stress. We observed larger effect sizes for negative symptoms compared to positive outcomes.

Overall, our findings suggest that a brief, remote, self-compassion intervention may be a feasible way of promoting mental health among working mothers and warrants additional intervention development and testing with rigorous study designs.