Uten følelse, ingen endring: om forholdene mellom selvmedfølelse og depresjon under behandlingsopphold - en longtudinell studie

Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between self-compassion and depression, as a contribution in the search for understanding why and how changes come about in therapy. Method : The study is carried out as a longitudinal research, and analysed using multilevel modelling. The population was 61 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder according to DSM-5, given in-house treatment over 13 weeks at the Unit for Depressive Disorders at Modum Bad Psychiatric Center. Results: Self-compassion in the form of self-kindness predicts depressive symptoms on the within-person level, i.e. the evaluation of self-kindness one week predicts the level of depression the subsequent week. Other variables and hypotheses resulted in significant between-person effects. Conclusion: The result suggests that self-kindness plays an important role in the treatment of depression, and the results might help us understand what might affect change to occur in psychological treatment of depression