Research paper · RP22

Be Your Own Yaar

Ferrari 2019 pooled all comers. In employed adults, self-compassion practices reduced stress by Hedges g = 0.45 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.68; k = 4) and reduced burnout by g = 0.44 (95% CI 0.16 to 0.71) in two digital wait-list trials; adding a teacher trial made the burnout interval include no effect. Self-compassion itself rose by g = 0.63 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.83; k = 5; I² ~ 0%). Self-criticism could not be pooled. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CTRI, ClinicalTrials.gov and OSF preprints (2010 to 22 September 2026) for randomised or controlled trials of self-compassion practices — self-kind rewriting, compassionate letters, brief daily exercises — in employed adults, with any control. Effects were Hedges g from pre–post change over the pooled pre-intervention standard deviation, pooled with random-effects REML. Risk of bias used RoB 2. Certainty used GRADE. Practices are described generically. About 1,840 records were identified and 78 full texts assessed. Eleven trials entered the qualitative synthesis. Five randomised trials contributed extractable self-compassion effects. No eligible Indian employed-adult randomised trial entered the pool. Certainty is moderate for self-compassion, low–moderate for stress, low for burnout and very low for self-criticism. The worker-only stress effect is smaller than Ferrari’s all-comers g = 0.67. Brief daily reps of 10 to 15 minutes for four to eight weeks did the work. A 59% burnout workforce in India still has no eligible trial. This review was not pre-registered.