Women reported higher compassion and gratitude scores after an online program
Training participants reported improvements, but the abstract does not explicitly report how their changes compared with those of women on the waiting list.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Women in the training group reported statistically significant improvements in compassion and gratitude. Although the trial included a randomized waiting-list comparison, the abstract does not explicitly state the between-group result or provide effect sizes. It therefore leaves the program's comparative effect uncertain and does not establish improvement in depression or anxiety.
The abstract supplies neither numerical effect estimates nor an explicit between-group result. It also reports no longer-term outcomes, limiting assessment of the size, comparative strength and persistence of the changes.
What participants practiced and reported
The program combined educational material, compassion exercises and journaling. Researchers assessed compassion and gratitude through standardized self-report questionnaires before and after training. The reported improvements concern these questionnaire outcomes rather than demonstrated relief of clinical symptoms.
Related scores do not establish causation
Compassion and gratitude scores showed a strong positive correlation, meaning they tended to vary together. That association does not establish that changes in either skill caused changes in the other or improved broader mental health.
The original publication
Can promoting compassion and gratitude through a four-week online training program improve women's mental health? A randomized controlled trial.
Bock L, Rana M, Rössler T et al.
BMC Womens Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40691789
- Record checked
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