Self-compassion and interoceptive awareness as mechanisms of change in yoga for emotional well-being: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Résumé

INTRODUCTION: Yoga practice is associated with improved emotional well-being (EWB), but little is known about why this is so. This post-hoc secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial a) tested whether changes in self-compassion and interoceptive awareness were associated with changes in EWB (i.e., meaning in life, sense of inner peace, ability to pursue goals) over the course of a yoga intervention and b) examined whether amount practiced relates to changes in proposed mechanisms and EWB outcomes.METHODS: For a clinical trial, 84d participants who self-identified as stressed were randomized to varying doses of a 12-week Kripalu-style yoga intervention. As part of the parent study, participants completed self-report surveys at baseline, mid-treatment, and post-treatment assessing self-compassion (Self-Compassion Scale, Short Form), elements of interoceptive awareness (The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness) and domains of emotional well-being (peace, meaning, ability to pursue goals; Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy--Spiritual Well-being Scale; Brief Self Control Scale). Seventy-five participants from the parent study had data for at least one of the main study variables and were thus included in this secondary analysis. To examine whether changes in hypothesized mechanisms (self-compassion, interoceptive awareness) were associated with changes in outcomes, standardized residuals reflecting relative change were obtained by regressing post-treatment scores on baseline scores for all variables. Then, partial correlations (controlling for gender, age and site) between the standardized residuals for changes in mechanisms and changes in EWB were examined. To examine a potential dose effect, partial correlations between average weekly practice and change in both mechanisms and three EWB outcomes were conducted, controlling for home-practice randomization group, gender, age, and study site.RESULTS: Over the course of the intervention (T1 to T3), changes in self-compassion were associated with changes in both meaning and peace (s =.52, .54, respectively,