Background: Following natural disasters, early helping behavior often dissipates despite remaining disaster-related suffering and affective vulnerability in the community. Interventions that have successfully increased helping behaviors have included components of motivational interviewing (MI) and mindful compassion; however, this research is limited by laboratory-based settings and lengthy training sessions. Brief, portable, and efficient intervention is needed to increase accessibility to large groups simultaneously. Method: The current study piloted a brief, online, self-administered MI and mindful compassion intervention administered 4–10 weeks post-Hurricane Harvey examining if it would sustain helping behaviors over the ensuing year. The study also examined potential moderators of the relationship between compassion for others and internalizing symptoms, and whether helping behaviors predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms. Results: The intervention group sustained the use of helping behaviors more than an active control group after 9–12 months. Also, compassion satisfaction and burnout moderated the relationship between compassion for others and post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms at follow-up. Conclusions: Results suggest a potentially useful model of how an efficiently distributed intervention might sustain helping behaviors after a natural disaster and provide insight into possible longitudinal risk and protective factors for post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms among helping volunteers.
AdamsR. E.BoscarinoJ. A.FigleyC. R. (2006). Compassion fatigue and psychological distress among social workers: A validation study. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(1), 103–108. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.1.103
2.
ArendtL. A.AleschD. J. (2014). Long-term community recovery from natural disasters. CRC Press.
3.
AronsonI. D.MarschL. A.AcostaM. C. (2013).Using findings in multimedia learning to inform technology-based behavioral health interventions. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 3(3), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0137-4
4.
BankardJ. (2015). Training emotion cultivates morality: How loving-kindness meditation hones compassion and increases prosocial behavior. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(6), 2324–2343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9999-8
5.
BatsonC. D. (2011). Altruism in humans. Oxford University Press.
6.
BeardC.HsuK. J.RifkinL. S.BuschA. B.BjörgvinssonT. (2016). Validation of the PHQ-9 in a psychiatric sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 193, 267–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.075
7.
BoudreauxE. D.SullivanA.AbarB.BernsteinS. L.GindeA. A.CamargoC. A.Jr (2012). Motivation rulers for smoking cessation: A prospective observational examination of construct and predictive validity. Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, 7(1), 8–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1940-0640-7-8
8.
BrewinC. R.AndrewsB.ValentineJ. D. (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 748–766. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.68.5.748
9.
BryantF. B.SmithJ. L. (2015). Appreciating life in the midst of adversity: Savoring in relation to mindfulness, reappraisal, and meaning. Psychological Inquiry, 26(4), 315–321. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2015.1075351
10.
CameronC. D.FredricksonB. L. (2015). Mindfulness facets predict helping behavior and distinct helping-related emotions. Mindfulness, 6(5), 1211–1218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-014-0383-2
11.
ChacónF.VecinaM. L.DávilaM. C. (2007). The three-stage model of volunteers’ duration of service. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 35(5), 627–642. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2007.35.5.627
12.
ChatzisarantisN. L. D.HaggerM. S. (2007). Mindfulness and the intention-behavior relationship within the theory of planned behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(5), 663–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167206297401
13.
ChmitorzA.KunzlerA.HelmreichI.TuscherO.KalischR.KubiakT.WessaM.LiebK. (2018). Intervention studies to foster resilience: A systematic review and proposal for a resilience framework in future intervention studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 78–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.11.002
14.
CohenJ. (2013). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic Press.
15.
ConradD.Kellar-GuentherY. (2006). Compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction among Colorado child protection workers. Child Abuse and Neglect, 30(10), 1071–1080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.03.009
16.
CreamerM.BellR.FaillaS. (2003). Psychometric properties of the impact of events scale revised. Behavior Research and Therapy, 41(12), 1489–1496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2003.07.010
17.
Dass-BrailsfordP.ThomleyR.de MendozaA. H. (2011). Paying it forward: The transformative aspects of volunteering after Hurricane Katrina. Traumatology, 17(1), 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765610395619
18.
DonaldJ. N.SahdraB. K.Van ZandenB.DuineveldJ. J.AtkinsP. W. B.MarshallS. L.CiarrochiJ. (2019). Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour. British Journal of Psychology, 110(1), 101–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12338
19.
DonnellyE. (2012). Work-related stress and post-traumatic stress in emergency medical services. Prehospital Emergency Care, 16(1), 76–85. https://doi.org/10.3109/10903127.2011.621044
20.
DucharmeF.LachanceL.LévesqueL.ZaritS. H.KergoatM. J. (2015). Maintaining the potential of a psycho-educational program: Efficacy of a booster session after an intervention offered family caregivers at disclosure of a relative's dementia diagnosis. Aging and Mental Health, 19(3), 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.922527
21.
D'UrzoK. A.FloodS. M.BaillieC.SkeldingS.DobrowolskiS.HouldenR. L.TomasoneJ. R. (2020). Evaluating the implementation and impact of a motivational interviewing workshop on medical student knowledge and social cognitions towards counseling patients on lifestyle behaviors. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 32(2), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2019.1681273
22.
FitzpatrickK. M. (2021). Post-traumatic stress symptomatology and displacement among Hurricane Harvey survivors. Social Science and Medicine, 270, 113634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113634
23.
FranceC. R.FranceJ. L.CarlsonB. W.KesslerD. A.RebosaM.ShazB. H.MaddenK.CareyP. M.FoxK. R.LivitzI. E.AnkawiB.SlepianP. M. (2016). A brief motivational interview with action and coping planning components enhances motivational autonomy among volunteer blood donors. Transfusion, 56(6 Pt 2), 1636–1644. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.13485
24.
FredricksonB. L.CohnM. A.CoffeyK. A.PekJ.FinkelS. M. (2008). Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1045–1062. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013262
25.
FullertonC. S.UrsanoR. J.WangL. (2004). Acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression in disaster or rescue workers. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(8), 1370–1376. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.8.1370
26.
GarmanA. N.CorriganP. W.MorrisS. (2002). Staff burnout and patient satisfaction: Evidence of relationships at the care unit level. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7(3), 235–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.7.3.235
27.
GlynnL. H.MoyersT. B. (2010). Chasing change talk: The clinician's role in evoking client language about change. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 39(1), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2010.03.012
28.
HackerT. (2008). The relational compassion scale: development and validation of a new self- rated scale for the assessment of self-other compassion. Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow.
29.
HafenbrackA. C.CameronL. D.SpreitzerG. M.ZhangC.NovalL. J.ShaffakatS. (2020). Helping people by being in the present: Mindfulness increases prosocial behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 159, 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.08.005
30.
HanleyN.ShogrenJ. F.WhiteB. (2016). Environmental economics: In theory and practice. Macmillan International Higher Education.
31.
HardcastleS.BlakeN.HaggerM. S. (2012). The effectiveness of a motivational interviewing primary-care based intervention on physical activity and predictors of change in a disadvantaged community. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 35(3), 318–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-012-9417-1
32.
HeatherN. (1996). The public health and brief interventions for excessive alcohol consumption: The British experience. Addictive Behaviors, 21(6), 857–868. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4603(96)00040-8
33.
HutchersonC. A.SeppalaE. M.GrossJ. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion, 8(5), 720–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237
34.
KroenkeK.SpitzerR. L.WilliamsJ. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
35.
LayneC. M.RuzekJ. I.DixonK. (2021). From resilience and restoration to resistance and resource caravans: A developmental framework for advancing the disaster field. Psychiatry, 84(4), 393–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.2021.2005444
36.
LeeD.ReasonerK.DavidsonC.PenningsJ. S.LeeD. H. (2022). The relationships between grit, burnout, and demographic characteristics in medical students. Psychological Reports, 332941221087899. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941221087899
37.
LeibergS.KlimeckiO.SingerT. (2011). Short-term compassion training increases prosocial behavior in a newly developed prosocial game. PLoS ONE, 6(3), Article e17798. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017798
38.
MesuradoB.DistefanoM. J.RobioloG.RichaudM. C. (2019). The Hero program: Development and initial validation of an intervention program to promote prosocial behavior in adolescents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(8), 2566–2584. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518793224
NeffK. D.PommierE. (2013). The relationship between self-compassion and other-focused concern among college undergraduates, community adults, and practicing meditators. Self and Identity, 12(2), 160–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2011.649546
41.
NezuA. M. (1987). A problem-solving formulation of depression: A literature review and proposal of a pluralistic model. Clinical Psychology Review, 7(2), 121–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(87)90030-4
42.
NisbetM. C. (2009). Communicating climate change: Why frames matter for public engagement. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 51(2), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.3200/ENVT.51.2.12-23
43.
NorrisF. H.BakerC. K.MurphyA. D.KaniastyK. (2005). Social support mobilization and deterioration after Mexico’s 1999 flood: Effects of context, gender, and time. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(1-2), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-6230-9
44.
NorrisF. H.PerillaJ. L.RiadJ. K.KaniastyK.LavizzoE. A. (1999). Stability and change in stress, resources, and psychological distress following natural disaster: Findings from Hurricane Andrew. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 12(4), 363–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615809908249317
45.
PastoreO. L.BrettB.FortierM. S. (2022). Self-compassion and happiness: Exploring the influence of the subcomponents of self-compassion on happiness and vice versa. Psychological Reports, 332941221084902. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941221084902
46.
PetersM. L.FlinkI. K.BoersmaK.LintonS. J. (2010). Manipulating optimism: Can imagining a best possible self be used to increase positive future expectancies?The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(3), 204–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439761003790963
47.
RollnickS.ButlerC. C.KinnersleyP.GregoryJ.MashB. (2010). Competent novice: Motivational interviewing. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research ed.), 340(7758), 1242–1245. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c1900
48.
RubakS.SandbækA.LauritzenT.ChristensenB. (2005). Motivational interviewing: A Systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of General Practice, 55(513), 305–312.
49.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1521/978.14625/28806
50.
SalzbergS. (2002). Lovingkindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Shambhala Publications.
51.
Schuman-OlivierZ.TrombkaM.LovasD. A.BrewerJ. A.VagoD. R.GawandeR.DunneJ. P.LazarS. W.LoucksE. B.FulwilerC. (2020). Mindfulness and behavior change. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 28(6), 371–394. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000277
52.
ShultzJ. M.GaleaS. (2017). Mitigating the mental and physical health consequences of Hurricane Harvey. Journal of the American Medical Association, 318(15), 1437–1438. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.14618
53.
SmithA. J.ShojiK.GriffinB. J.SippelL. M.DworkinE. R.WrightH. M.MorrowE.LockeA.LoveT. M.HarrisI.KaniastyK.LangeneckerS. A.BenightC. C. (2022). Social cognitive mechanisms in healthcare worker resilience across time during the pandemic. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology. 57(7). 1457–1468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-022-02247-5
54.
SpitzerR. L.KroenkeK.WilliamsJ. B. (1999). Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: The PHQ primary care study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282(18), 1737–1744. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.282.18.1737
55.
StammB. H. (2010). The concise ProQOL manual.
56.
TalleyR. C.CrewsJ. E. (2007). Framing the public health of caregiving. American Journal of Public Health, 97(2), 224–228. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2004.059337
57.
ToneE. B.TullyE. C. (2014). Empathy as a “risky strength”: A multilevel examination of empathy and risk for internalizing disorders. Development and Psychopathology, 26(4 Pt 2), 1547–1565. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414001199
58.
WadsworthM. E.SantiagoC. D.EinhornL. (2009). Coping with displacement from Hurricane Katrina: Predictors of one-year post-traumatic stress and depression symptom trajectories. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 22(4), 413–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800902855781
59.
WalshR.ShapiroS. L. (2006). The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. The American Psychologist, 61(3), 227–239. https://10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.227
WeissD. S.MarmarC. R. (1997). The Impact of Event Scale-Revised. In WilsonJ. P.KeaneT. M. (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD. New York: The Guilford Press.
62.
WengH. Y.FoxA. S.ShackmanA. J.StodolaD. E.CaldwellJ. Z. K.OlsonM. C.RogersG. M.DavidsonR. J.DavidsonR. J. (2013). Compassion training alters altruism and neural responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1171–1180. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612469537
63.
WessolowskiN.KoenigH.Schulte-MarkwortM.BarkmannC. (2014). The effect of variable light on the fidgetiness and social behavior of pupils in school. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 39, 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.05.001
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
