Across cultures and belief systems, compassion is widely considered to be beneficial for the development of personal and social wellbeing. Research indicates that compassion-training programs have broad health benefits, but how and why compassion-training programs are effective is still relatively unknown. This paper describes the theoretical underpinnings of a specific compassion-training program, CBCT^®(Cognitively-Based Compassion Training), and proposes an integrative model that draws on existing health behavior constructs to identify CBCT’s core components and hypothesizes their directionality and interaction. The model includes two primary categories of skill development: (1) intrapersonal skills leading to greater resiliency, and (2) interpersonal skills leading to greater compassion. It is hypothesized that these two pathways are mutually reinforcing and both contribute to greater wellbeing. This model provides a foundation for theory-driven research on the underlying mechanisms in CBCT training. An understanding of CBCT’s mechanisms is a critical step towards optimizing and personalizing the intervention to meet the needs of specific populations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color and highlighted longstanding racial health inequities. Communities of color also report higher rates of medical mistrust driven by histories of medical mistreatment and continued experiences of discrimination and systemic racism. Medical mistrust may exacerbate COVID-19 disparities. This study utilizes the Behavior Model for Vulnerable Populations to investigate predictors of medical mistrust during the COVID-19 pandemic among urban youth of color. Minority youth (N = 105) were recruited from community organizations in Kansas City, Missouri to complete an online survey between May and June 2020. Multiple linear regressions were performed to estimate the effect of personal characteristics, family and community resources, and COVID-19 need-based factors on medical mistrust. Results indicated that loneliness, financial insecurity (e.g., job loss, loss of income) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eligibility for free or reduced lunch predicted medical mistrust. Insurance status, neighborhood median household income, social support, and perceived COVID-19 risk were not significantly associated with medical mistrust. Future research and policies are necessary to address systemic factors that perpetuate medical mistrust among youth of color.

This study examines the effectiveness of incorporating compassion meditation training into a clinical pastoral education (CPE) curriculum to enhance compassion satisfaction and reduce burnout among hospital chaplain residents. Specifically, a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design was used to examine the impact of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT), a group-delivered compassion meditation intervention. Hospital chaplain residents (n = 15) were assigned to participate in a CBCT intervention or a waitlist comparison group. Chaplains assigned to CBCT reported significant decreases in burnout and anxiety compared to the waitlist group; effects were not maintained at 4-month follow-up. Other outcomes, including compassion satisfaction, did not differ significantly but were trending in the expected direction. Findings suggest that compassion meditation training incorporated into CPE promotes chaplain wellbeing, although it may be necessary to extend CBCT throughout residency to sustain effects.

Children in poverty are at significantly greater risk of experiencing child maltreatment. Family economic security policies, such as minimum wage laws, offer a promising prevention strategy to support low-income families. This study utilized data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study, to examine the effect of changes in state-specific minimum wage laws on maternal self-reported child maltreatment and material hardship as it varies by developmental age of the child. A series of fixed effects models with an interaction between the minimum wage and the age of the focal child were used to estimate if there was variation by developmental period of the impact of minimum wage laws on the following outcome variables: all domains of child maltreatment, maternal work-related stress, reported material hardship, aggravation in parenting, and maternal depression. Results revealed significant effects of increased minimum wage on maternal self-reported child neglect and material hardship when children are 3 years of age, and this relationship became non-significant as children aged. No effect was observed by age for other forms of child maltreatment nor any other outcome variables. Study findings suggest minimum wage laws may have differential effects on child neglect depending on the developmental period in which they are received.

Background: Inpatient medical settings lack evidence-based spiritually integrated interventions to address patient care needs within a pluralistic religious landscape. To address this gap, CCSH™ (Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health) was developed to leverage the skillsets of healthcare chaplains to improve patient outcomes through spiritual consultation. Here, we report the results of a randomized, wait-list controlled, pre-registered (NCT03529812) study that evaluated the impact of CCSH on patient-reported depression and explored putative mediators of CCSH’s effects. Method: Chaplain residents were randomized to be trained in CCSH as part of their clinical pastoral education (CPE) residency in the fall (n = 8) or spring semester (n = 8). After fall training, all residents provided spiritual consultations with hospitalized patients (n = 119; n = 54 seen by CCSH-trained chaplains). Those not yet trained to deliver CCSH provided a traditional consult. Patients’ pre-consult distress was measured using the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer, and post-consult depression was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Consults were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and we conducted linguistic analyses using LIWC 2015 software to quantify chaplain linguistic behavior. Results: Patients seen by CCSH-trained chaplains had lower post-consult depression scores (M = 4.10, SD = 5.04) than patients who were seen by wait-listed chaplains (M = 6.12, SD = 5.08), after adjusting for pre-consult distress (p = .048). There was also a significant relationship between post-consult depression and chaplain LIWC clout scores (r = -0.24, p = .017), a linguistic measure thought to reflect the expressive confidence and other-oriented focus of the speaker. An exploratory mediation model revealed an indirect effect of CCSH on patient depression through chaplain clout language b = -0.11 (90% CI, -.257, -.003). Implications: These data suggest that CCSH decreases patient depression among inpatients, in part due to CCSH-trained chaplains’ use of more inclusive, confident, and other-oriented language. We connect these findings with current understandings of effective clinical linguistic behavior and reflect on what this work may mean for integrated spiritual health care.

PURPOSE:Oncology clinical research coordinators (CRCs) and team-based coordinator care are critical for the success of clinical trials. However, CRCs typically report elevated anxiety and burnout a...