Abstract
Military personnel face an increased risk of developing mental health problems due to stress exposure during peacekeeping and combat operations. Recent approaches emphasize not only preventing mental illness but also actively promoting mental wellbeing. This thesis uses the concept of sustainable mental health, defined as the absence of mental illness combined with high levels of wellbeing, and explores the role of (self-)compassion in fostering this state among active-duty military personnel.
The research consists of four complementary investigations. First, a review of 24 mobile apps designed to cultivate compassion found that only eight met standards for acceptable quality and alignment with evidence-based practices, while many lacked engaging or accurate content. Second, the Dutch translation of the Sussex Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale (SOCS-S) was validated, demonstrating reliability and comprehensive measurement of self-compassion. Third, a longitudinal study revealed that self-compassion buffered the impact of work-related stressors on symptoms of anxiety and depression over time, underscoring its relevance for sustainable mental health. Finally, a proof-of-concept study tested a newly developed compassion training, based on Compassionate Mind Training and adapted to the military context (e.g., using the term “emotional awareness”). This training was implemented universally across a Dutch military company. Qualitative feedback indicated good acceptability, with participants valuing the emphasis on emotional awareness. However, no significant changes emerged in quantitative outcome measures, possibly due to the universal delivery to an entire assigned company rather than a targeted group of individuals with lower sustainable mental health or voluntary participation, factors that may have led to floor or ceiling effects and reduced intrinsic motivation for practice between sessions.
Altogether, this thesis strengthens existing evidence for self-compassion’s moderating role between work stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. It highlights self-compassion’s relevance not only for veterans but also for active-duty military personnel, as well as the acceptability of a newly developed compassion training. While qualitative feedback indicated some benefit from the training, no significant improvements were found in quantitative measures of self-compassion, emotion regulation, or mental wellbeing. These findings underscore the need for future research to explore compassion training effects more deeply, particularly when targeted at soldiers with lower sustainable mental health or higher intrinsic motivation to engage in self-compassion practices.