Graduation Year
2017
Date of Submission
4-2017
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Reader 1
Wei-Chin Hwang
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2017 Courtney P Chan
Abstract
This study examines whether Compassion Meditation (CM) can help ethnic minority college students heal from race-related stress. The present study hypothesized that through participation in a CM intervention, the augmentation of adaptive coping strategies (i.e., self-compassion) and the reduction of maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., internalization, defined as self-blame, and detachment, defined as social isolation) would reduce depression and PTSD. Participants (N = 9) participated in an 8-session weekly CM intervention and completed three questionnaires at the beginning, middle, and end of the intervention. Results demonstrated that increasing self-compassion predicted decreases in depression, and that reducing coping via detachment predicted decreases in PTSD. In addition, all nine participants met the clinical cutoff for major depression at pre-intervention, but only five remained above the cutoff point by post-intervention. Implications for future CM interventions, research, and prevention strategies are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Chan, Courtney, "Healing from Racism with Compassion Meditation: Effects of Coping on Mental Health" (2017). CMC Senior Theses. 1613.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1613
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons
