The effectiveness of self-compassion training on self-criticism and psychological disturbance in infertile women

Introduction: The present study seeks to investigate the impact of self-compassion training on self-criticism and psychological distress in infertile women.  Methods: This research was in the framework of a quasi-experimental research method and was performed using a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a follow-up test. The statistical population of the study included all the infertile women visiting the infertility treatment center of Qom University Jihad over 2021, Thirty women who met the inclusion criteria were selected by purposive sampling method, which was randomly divided into two groups of 15 intervention and control. The test group underwent eight online sessions of self-compassion training and the control group received no intervention. Participants were assessed using the Kessler et al. (2003) Psychological Distress Scale Questionnaire and the Thompson and Zurrof’s level of self-criticism scale (2004). Data obtained from pre-test, post-test and follow-up were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance using SPSS23 software. Results: The results showed that the groups were homogeneous in the pre-test stage and after training the scores of the control and intervention groups were different from each other, which means that self-compassion training was effective on psychological and self-critical disorders. Conclusions: Thus, the impact of training self-compassion on self-criticism and its components and the psychological distress is stable over time in infertile women after treatment and a six-week follow-up. Results indicate that self-compassion treatment leaves a significant impact on reducing self-criticism and marital distress in infertile women.