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A Randomized Micro-Trial of a Loving-Kindness Meditation for Young Adults Living at Home with their Parents

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Abstract

There is an increasing number of young adults living at home with their parents, and this can lead to tension and conflict in the family home. One way to help increase the pro-social interactions and connectedness between young adults and their parents is with using Loving-Kindness Meditations (LKM). There is considerable evidence suggesting that LKM, which is a cultivation of good-will for self and others, can have many direct benefits on psychological distress and interpersonal interactions, and can indirectly increase self-compassion. This study examined the effects of using a 15-min Loving-Kindness Meditation for young adults living. A total of 97 participants (79 female, mean age = 18.64 years), were randomly allocated to LKM or a Focused Imagery control. Participants completed measures examining self-compassion, compassion motivation, and emotional, cognitive and interpersonal responses to vignettes describing conflict between young adults and their parents. As predicted, compared to controls, young adults who received LKM were higher in motivation to be self-compassionate, however, there was no difference in levels of self-compassion. Initial fear of self-compassion influenced emotional responses on the vignettes. The findings suggest that self-compassion could assist young adults in managing their own internal distress when interacting with their parents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    James N. Kirby & David Laczko

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  1. James N. Kirby
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  2. David Laczko
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Correspondence to James N. Kirby.

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Conflict of Interest

We do not believe we have anything to disclose in relation to this manuscript. However, for full transparency we submit the following disclosure statement. James Kirby is a co-author of the Grandparent Triple P program. The Triple P—Positive Parenting Program is owned by The University of Queensland. The University, through its technology transfer company Uniquest Pty Ltd, has licensed Triple P International Pty Ltd to disseminate the program worldwide. Royalties stemming from this dissemination work are paid to UniQuest, which distributes payments to the University of Queensland Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Psychology, Parenting and Family Support Centre, and contributory authors in accordance with the University’s intellectual property policy. No author has any share or ownership in Triple P International. David Laczko has nothing to declare.

Research Involving Human Participants

The ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University of Queensland

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All participants gave their informed voluntary consent.

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Kirby, J.N., Laczko, D. A Randomized Micro-Trial of a Loving-Kindness Meditation for Young Adults Living at Home with their Parents. J Child Fam Stud 26, 1888–1899 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0692-x

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