We had our first youth focus group on #selfcompassion and #mentalhealth today for @wellcometrust #activeingredients
This is hands down my favourite part of doing research and they were so insightful, so I'm gonna share a few things about what they told us (plus another map) 1/16

First - only one member of our group had heard of self-compassion before. Nevertheless, it seemed to be an accessible concept - all members described what they thought it was (in ways that aligned with how we would generally define it) 2/16

Second, they all saw a clear application to youth mental health. "I can learn all these things about what I should be doing to make it (mental health) better but if I'm not being understanding with myself I'm going to stay in that negative thought spiral" 3/16

Third self-compassion was seen as a relevant intervention target - either alone or combined with other strategies. It was seen as more relevant that "broad" mental health recommendations around exercise and sleep 4/16

However! It's important that not being self-compassionate doesn't "become another reason for young people to beat themselves up". It's also important to know that for YP, mental health probs carry stigma, and so do "buzzwords" like #mindfulness #selflove and #selfcompassion 5/16

In fact it can be pretty cringe. So what to do about this? "Have online programs where people can do it anonymously." Apps are cool but can be a barrier for people who don't have phones AND teens pass their phones around so "could be cringey if someone saw it on there" 6/16

Teaching it in schools is also a good idea - there will be some people who engage and some that don't but regardless, we "need to get the concept out there". We also need to "tailor it to specific groups (e.g. LGBTQIA+)" 7/16

Super important - "keep it simple, treat us like we're adults, be honest, recognise we've been through a stuff and don't try to hard to make it cool. It doesn't work. Sticking "Cool" in a program name doesn't make it cool" (my inner 14 yr old felt this one hard) 8/16

Remember that "all the rage is being negative on yourself because it's easier + it's funny" so it's helpful to talk about these sort of things and reduce the stigma around it. Our group told us "it's nice to be heard about anxiety and depression" 9/16

And "its good to hear other people's perspectives and talk to people in a constructive way" - "you don't generally get asked about these things!" 10/16

So what are we doing about it? First, we're running more groups and using this information as part of our #wellcometrust insight analysis. But we also have a number of self-compassion projects already underway: 11/16

1. An RCT of online self-compassion training (anonymous! and tailored! phew!) for young people with #chronicillness - this one's with me, @drclarerees @me_boyo @FuschiaSirois and @yaelperry and funded by @ausrotaryhealth 12/16

2. An RCT of peer-facilitated videoconferencing group self-compassion training for LGBTIQIA+ young people, in partnership with @minus18youth and also funded by @ausrotaryhealth with @lin_ashleigh @yaelperry @PenelopeStrauss and @jeneva_ohan and myself 13/16

3. A pilot RCT of videconferencing group self-compassion training for teens with Type 1 diabetes (including physiological measures! yay) with me and @BebbingtonKeely and funded by @CDCTelethonKids 14/16

4. A 3-arm RCT comparing compassion/loving-kindness and mindfulness meditation for improving wellbeing in pregnant women, with me and @drjennydowns @amandaodonovan and @jeneva_ohan in the wonderful @telethonkids ORIGINS project 15/16

Plus a bunch of other cool stuff in the works! If you want to talk #selfcompassion research get in touch - we have great student projects available too. Thanks to our focus group members for the inspiring discussion today and now I am off to brainstorm how to be less cringefin.