A scoping review of the self-reported compassion measurement tools

Abstract

Background: Compassion is closely linked to psychological well-being, and several assessment tools have been developed and studied to assess the level of compassion in different populations and for more precise measurement. There is currently a scarcity of comprehensive knowledge about compassion-related assessment tools, and our research provides an overview of these tools. Aims: To collect exhaustively the tools used to assess compassion in order to serve as a resource for selecting tools for use in practice. Methods: Focusing on compassion assessment tools, the authors conducted a thorough search of 10 Chinese and English databases from their establishment until August 14, 2022. The extracted data comprised the author, the year, the nation, the target population, and the primary evaluation contents. Using the COSMIN checklist, the methodological quality and measurement properties of the included studies were appraised. This scoping review was registered with the Open Science Framework and followed the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) checklist. Results:There were 15965 papers searched, and 36 compassion-related measurement tools were considered in this study. None of the 36 studies provided possessed all nine psychometric properties, as outlined by the COSMIN criteria. On the basis of a systematic evaluation of quality, measurement qualities were ranked. The results for internal consistency and content validity were relatively favorable, whereas the results for structural validity were variable and the results for the remaining attributes were either uncertain or negative. A Venn diagram was used to illustrate the overlapping groups of compassion measurement tools based on the three-way flow of compassion. An overview of the reference instrument and theoretical basis for the included studies was provided, and half of them did not contain any theoretical or scale-based evidence. Conclusion: In this study, 36 compassion-related measuring instruments were identified, and the methodological quality and measurement properties of the included studies were acceptable. The included measurements in this study were found to be consistent with three-way compassion flows. Compassion measurement tools and compassion-related theories should be the focus of future research.