Self-Compassionate Writing for Caregivers of Older Adults

The goal of this study was to test an online writing intervention to encourage a self-compassionate mindset in family caregivers of older adults. The main aims were to answer the questions: * Writing with self-compassion would increase self-compassion. * Writing with self-compassion would improve mood. Researchers compared self-compassion components (self-kindness, which involves a gentle and non-judgemental approach to oneself at times of difficulty; common humanity, which includes recognising one's difficulties as part of a shared human experience; mindfulness, which includes noticing difficult feelings without becoming overwhelmed by them) to see which combinations achieved the best outcomes. Participants wrote with different combinations of self-compassion components together, such as mindfulness and common humanity or mindfulness and self-kindness. Participants also wrote with self-kindness, common humanity, or mindfulness separately.