(PS2-43) A Content Analysis of Self-compassion and Reappraisal Writing Among Those with High Social Anxiety

Written methods of inducing self-compassion are beneficial for many individuals, including those high in social anxiety. However, very few studies have compared self-compassionate writing to other adaptive strategies. Recent research has found that self-compassionate and cognitive reappraisal writing led to similar positive outcomes. As such, it is important to further explore the underlying mechanisms of these writing exercises. The primary aim of the present research was to analyze the written responses from a self-compassion induction compared with reappraisal and control writing conditions among those with elevated social anxiety.

Participants with high social anxiety (N = 322) were asked to recall and write about a past social situation where they felt judged by others and that still bothers them. They were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions: self-compassion (n = 110), cognitive reappraisal (n = 105) or control (n = 107) where they were guided to write about the past social situation they recalled. It was hypothesized that writing in a self-compassionate manner would result in the highest coded self-compassion levels whereas a cognitive reappraisal exercise would result in the highest coded reappraisal levels. All written responses were coded by two research assistants evaluating the degree to which each response displayed self-compassion and reappraisal. On average, good agreement was found between raters (ICC = .72).

There was a significant difference between conditions on the amount of self-compassion expressed in the written responses, F (2,323) = 138.29, p < .001. A Tukey HSD post-hoc found that those in the self-compassion condition (M = 2.65, SD = 1.04) wrote significantly more self-compassionately than those in the control (M = 0.46, SD = 0.68) and reappraisal conditions (M = 1.64, SD = 1.13), p’s < .001. Additionally, those in the reappraisal condition wrote significantly more compassionately than those in the control condition, p</em> < .001.

There was also a significant difference between conditions on the amount of reappraisal coded, F (2,323) = 55.55, p < .001. Surprisingly, those in the self-compassion condition (M = 2.39, SD = .75) were coded as displaying more reappraisal than those in both the reappraisal (M = 1.93 SD =.84), p < .001 and control conditions (M = .99 SD = .71), p < .001. Additionally, those in the reappraisal condition displayed significantly more reappraisal in their written responses than those in the control condition, p</em> < .001. Overall, having individuals with high social anxiety write in a self-compassionate manner appears to have guided them to write both self-compassionately and to reappraise the past stressful situation.