Efficacy of an online self-compassion intervention at work: A randomized controlled study

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a brief internet-based intervention to improve self-compassion (SC) among employees and tested if the intervention improves health (i.e., emotional exhaustion), motivation (i.e., work engagement), and productivity (i.e., procrastination). A sample of 100 employees participated in the randomized controlled trial including an intervention group (N = 48) and a waitlist control group with delayed access to the intervention (N = 52). Assessments were taken at baseline, after the intervention (6 weeks from the baseline), and at follow-up (12 weeks from the baseline). Mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant intervention effects for SC and procrastination. The intervention effects were maintained at the 6-weeks follow-up. No effects were found for emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Growth curve analyses revealed that those with unfavorable initial levels of exhaustion, work engagement, and self-efficacy benefited more from the intervention in terms of increased SC. Our findings are discussed in the context of occupational health promotion in general and SC-based interventions specifically.