Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Skill Training on Rumination, Hostility, Shame in Women with AIDS

Background: Women with HIV experience negative emotions caused by their physical and mental problems. In recent years, self-compassion has been paid attention as a substitute for negative emotions. This research is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of self-compassion skill training on rumination, hostility, and shame in women with HIV disease. Methods: This study had a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and control group. In this research, sampling was done by voluntary non- randomly sampling and random assignment. For this purpose, 60 women with HIV were selected voluntary and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received ten 90-min sessions of self-compassion skill training held once a week. The assessment tools included rumination questionnaire Trapnell & Campbell (1999), Redford hostility questionnaire (1998) and Internalized shame scale (Cook;1993). The questionnaires were collected by the sample group in two stages before and after the intervention. Results: The results of analysis of covariance suggest that self-compassion skill training was more effective in reducing hostility and shame (P <0.01) in experimental group compared to control group at post-test. No difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of rumination. Conclusion: It seems that self-compassion skill training can be effective in decreasing hostility and shame in women with HIV. Thus, this method is suggested for improving the psychological symptoms in women with HIV.