1 Assignment 1: Quantitative Journal Article Review Chanil Lee Yorkville University PSYC6213 Research Methodology Dr. Jill Rettinger April, 2nd , 2023 2 Attachment-Based Compassion Therapy: Critical Review of Culturally Adjusted Therapy Quantitative journal article selected review Navarro-Gil, M., Lopez-del-Hoyo, Y., Modrego-Alarcón, M., Montero-Marin, J., Van Gordon, W., Shonin, E., & Garcia-Campayo, J. (2020). effects of attachment-based compassion therapy (abct) on self-compassion and attachment style in healthy people. Mindfulness, 11, 51-62. Statement of Problem Although there has previously been Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), this types of therapy has targeted English-speaking countries. Thus, Navarro-Gil, et al., (2020) aims to adjust CFT to better fit the Latin countries by testing a new protocol of compassion named AttachmentBased Compassion Therapy (ABCT). The study aims to test the efficacy of this newly formed protocol in improving self-compassion and attachment types within the clients. Literature Review Before understanding the procedures included within ABCT, one must first grasp the concept of compassion. Compassion can be described as the feeling that arises in witnessing another’s suffering and developing desires to help or aid in ending the suffering (Goetz, et al., 2010). Compassion has become an important target in therapy as it is associated with multiple positive emotions and an important construct that affects relationship issues (Spandler & Stickley, 2011). Thus, development of CFT arose as an application for treating psychiatric disorders as well as aiding individuals suffering from self-criticism and low levels of selfcompassion (Gilbert, 2009). However, CFT studies have involved participants from English speaking cultures which resulted in the development of interventions such as ABCT. By the end of the sessions, the 3 participants should be able to identify their own attachment style which they aim to improve along with self-compassion levels. Hypotheses To Be Tested The authors hypothesized that compared to a waiting list control group, participants in the ABCT group will demonstrate increased levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and psychological well-being and thus modify their attachment style. Additionally, authors hypothesized that self-compassion may exert a mediating role in modifying attachment towards a more secure style. Method Research Design The research design would be considered as Quasi-experimental as it aims to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment but do not use randomized groups. Participants There were 85 total participants within the studies whom were selected by meeting the criteria set up by the authors. This criteria included being literate in Spanish, aged between 1865, self-rating as not having psychological disorder and not receiving treatment, and consent. The participants were divided in to two groups: a control group with 42 participants and an intervention group with 43 participants. Materials There were questionnaires such as self-compassion scale, five facets of mindfulness questionnaire, Acceptance and action questionnaire, General health questionnaire, and relationship questionnaire. Procedure 4 Participants within the intervention group would go through 8 weekly 2-hour session that involved basic theoretical concepts regarding compassion and attachment types. After the treatment, there was a post-treatment assessment as well as a follow-up 6 months later. The control group did not go through these weekly sessions and simply participated in the posttreatment assessment and the follow-up. Statistics The primary between-group analysis was performed using the six subscales of Selfcompassion scale as continuous variables. Linear mixed-effects model was used with the correlation between the repeated measures for each individual being accounted for by using restricted maximum likelihood model. Analyses were performed using STATA-12 and SPSS-19. Results Implications for Counselors, Clients, and Counselling The efficacy of the ABCT model is highlighted within the experiment as the results indicate a significant improvement within the intervention group. The ABCT model successfully improved self-compassion, mindfulness, reducing psychological disturbances, and attachment types. The participants showed reduced levels of anxiety and avoidant attachment types and increased levels of secure attachment types. This study demonstrates that ABCT model can be applied within counselling perspectives for Spanish speaking clients to help improve their selfcompassion levels which in-turn improves in reduction of negative psychological emotions such as depression and anxiety (Navarro-Gil, et al., 2020). Additionally, it has been shown that the intervention can be applied to the Latin speaking population with psychiatric conditions as well which the authors had excluded within the participants (Garcia-Campayo, 2016). Summary 5 The intervention group showed improvements in both within-subject and between subject by showing improved self-compassion levels and attachment styles compared to the control group as well as before their intervention and after their intervention. These results support the hypotheses provided by the authors suggesting ABCT to be an adequate intervention. Interpretation Overall, the study has shown that ABCT can act as an effective intervention for counselling with data supporting the author’s conclusion. The study has included multiple questionnaires and careful screening process in selecting their participants to further support their idea as well as demonstrating that ABCT model might not be simply restricted to improving selfcompassion levels. However, the study contains multiple problems that can be discussed. For example, the study failed to use randomized experimental study which would make the study be considered not as trustworthy (Goodwin & Goodwin, 2017). Additionally, the study contained small sample sizes with power level of 0.80. This could cause problems such as higher rates of Type I and Type II errors (Carlin et al. 2022). Finally, there are concerns of the separation between the control group and the intervention group as the control group were formed of people close to the intervention group such as family members and friends. This could create problems such as shared information from the intervention group. For Further Study There are needs for further studies to be conducted that includes larger sample sizes with randomized participants. Without these types of studies, it would be difficult to yet suggest that the intervention is valid. Additionally, the validity of ABCT might also be tied with the validity and replicability of CFT which also lack large-scale trials to be considered valid (Leaviss & Uttley, 2015). 6 References Carlin, M. T., Costello, M. S., Flansburg, M. A., & Darden, A. (2022). Reconsideration of the type I error rate for psychological science in the era of replication. Psychological Methods. Advance online publication. García-Campayo, J., Navarro-Gil, M., & Demarzo, M. (2016). Attachment-based compassion therapy. Mindfulness & Compassion, 1(2), 68-74. Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in psychiatric treatment, 15(3), 199-208. Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010). Compassion: an evolutionary analysis and empirical review. Psychological bulletin, 136(3), 351. Leaviss, J., & Uttley, L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focused therapy: An early systematic review. Psychological medicine, 45(5), 927-945. Spandler, H., & Stickley, T. (2011). No hope without compassion: the importance of compassion in recovery-focused mental health services. Journal of Mental Health, 20(6), 555-566.
