Introduction: Many individuals and families are currently experiencing a high level of COVID-19-related stress and are struggling to find helpful coping mechanisms. Mindfulness-based interventions are becoming an increasingly popular treatment for individuals experiencing depression and chronic levels of stress. The app (Serene) draws from scholarly evidence on the efficacy of mindfulness meditations and builds on the pre-existing apps by incorporating techniques that are used in some therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a 4-week mindfulness and self-compassion-based cognitive smartphone intervention (Serene) or a wait-list control group. They were instructed to engage in self-compassion and mindfulness practices and a cognitive restructuring task. They also completed measures that evaluated their levels of depression, stress, anxiety, self-compassion, wisdom, psychological well-being, and subjective well-being. The intervention group was also instructed to track their weekly engagement with the app. Standardized effect sizes for between-group differences were calculated using Cohen's d for complete case analyses.Results: Complete case analyses from baseline to the end of this randomized controlled trial demonstrated significant moderate between-group differences for depressive symptoms (d = −0.43) and decisiveness (d = 0.34). Moderate between-group differences were also found for self-compassion (d = 0.6) such that significant improvements in self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness and decreases in self-judgement, isolation, and overidentification were observed. A small between-group difference was found for emotional regulation (d = 0.28). Moreover, a significant moderate within-group decrease in stress (d = −0.52) and anxiety symptoms (d = −0.47) was also observed in the intervention group.Conclusions: Serene is an effective intervention that promotes increased levels of self-compassion and emotional regulation. Engaging with Serene may help reduce depressive symptoms through mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive restructuring which help reduce overidentification with one's negative emotions. As individuals rebalance their thinking through cognitive restructuring, they can identify the varying stressors in their life, develop action plans and engage in adaptive coping strategies to address them. Serene may promote greater self-understanding which may provide one with a more balanced perspective on their current upsetting situations to positively transform their challenges during the pandemic.

Objective: Recent research has shown a link between self-compassion, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and emotion-focused coping strategies (i.e., positive reframing and acceptance). Studies have also found evidence for the use of problem-focused strategies (i.e., active coping, planning, and instrumental support) as mediators between self-compassion and stress, and the use of these strategies has been found to predict PTG. However, no studies have directly examined the relationship between self-compassion, PTG, and the use of problem-focused coping strategies. This study investigated the association between self-compassion, emotion-and problem-focused coping, and PTG in trauma survivors. Method: Participants were 111 emerging adults aged 18 to 29, from Canada and the United States, who completed an online survey that included measures of coping, PTG, and self-compassion. Results: Self-compassion and PTG were both correlated with three coping styles, active coping, instrumental support, and positive reframing. All three coping styles predicted PTG over and above self-compassion and played multiple mediating roles between self-compassion and PTG, with no differences between the three coping styles in their mediating effects. Conclusions: These findings indicate that problem-focused coping strategies are also influential in mediating the development of PTG from self-compassion. Self-compassion reduces one's tendency to overidentify with negative emotions through positive reframing. The use of active coping and instrumental support also allows individuals to feel more capable in dealing with their traumatic events. Incorporating problem-focused self-compassion-based practices in cognitive behavioral and exposure-based therapies may offer additional benefits by reducing self-criticism to better promote active recovery from traumatic events. Clinical Impact StatementThis study demonstrates that the use of positive reframing and problem-focused coping strategies, such as active coping and seeking out instrumental support, may help explain the association between self-compassion and positive change following a traumatic event. These findings have many implications for clinical practice such that the use of problem-focused compassion-based practices and interventions may help individuals reduce self-blame and self-criticism to promote posttraumatic growth. Using these methods will add additional value to combating these negative emotions to promote positive recovery for traumatic survivors.

The physical distancing measures necessitated by COVID-19 have resulted in a severe withdrawal from the patterns of daily life, necessitating significantly reduced contact with other people. To many, such withdrawal can be a major cause of distress. But, to some, this sort of withdrawal is an integral part of growth, a pathway to a more enriching life. The present study uses a sequential explanatory QUAN-qual design to investigate whether people who felt that their lives had changed for the better after being forced to engage in physical distancing, what factors predicted such well-being, and how they spent their time to generate this sense of well-being. We invited 614 participants who reported closely following physical distancing recommendations to complete a survey exploring this topic. Our analyses, after controlling for all other variables in the regression model, found a greater positive association between presence of meaning in life, coping style, and self-transcendent wisdom and residualized current well-being accounting for retrospective assessments of well-being prior to physical distancing. An extreme-case content analysis of participants' personal projects found that participants with low self-transcendent wisdom reported more survival-oriented projects (e.g., acquiring groceries or engaging in distracting entertainments), while participants reporting high self-transcendent wisdom reported more projects involving deepening interactions with other people, especially family. Our findings suggest a more nuanced pathway from adversity to a deeper sense of well-being by showing the importance of not merely coping with adversity, but truly transcending it.