Research by Karen Bluth, Ph.D
Read Karen Bluth’s new article on Medium now:
Mindset Matters:
Dr Karen Bluth of UNC School of Medicine On How To Build Stress Resilience with a Positive Mindset
An Interview With Shawna Robins
Dr. Bluth's work has also been featured in several issues of Mindful Magazine, including October 2016, August 2015, April 2015, and February 2015.
Handbook of Self-Compassion
by Karen Bluth, PhD
A global movement has driven communities of practice to support self-compassion cultivation across populations and contexts. Bringing together world-leading researchers, clinicians, and practitioners, the Handbook of Self-Compassion provides a deep dive into self-compassion research over the past two decades, consolidating research findings, integrating these with clinical insights, and providing recommendations for refining and extending work in this field.
Research publications:
Lathren CR, Efird-Green L, Reed D, Zimmerman S, Perreira KM, Bluth K, Sloane PD. (in press) The prevalence and benefits of self-compassion among professional caregivers. JAMDA.
Bluth, K., Lathren, C., Park, J., Lynch, C., Curry, J., Harris‐Britt, A., & Gaylord, S. (2024). Feasibility, acceptability, and depression outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of Mindful Self‐Compassion for Teens (MSC‐T) for adolescents with subsyndromal depression. Journal of Adolescence, 96, 322–336.
Dover S, Ahmet A, Bluth K, Feldman BM, Goldbloom EB, Goldfield GS, Hamilton S, Imran O, Khalif A, Khatchadourian K, Lawrence S, Leonard A, Liu K, Ouyang Y, Peeters C, Shah J, Spector N, Zuijdwijk C, Robinson ME (2023).Teaching Adolescents with type 1 Diabetes Self-compassion (TADS) to reduce diabetes distress: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols.
Bluth K, Knox M, Press A, Lathren, CR (2023). Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Outcomes of Embracing Your Life: An Online Self-Compassion Program for Emerging Adults.Emerging Adulthood 11(5) 1281-1291.
Lathren CR, Bluth K, Tatera, JL (2023). Self-compassion for children and caregivers: A mixed-methods study assessing feasibility, acceptability and preliminary outcomes of a novel program. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02617-w
Shillington KJ, Morrow D, Meadows K, Labadie CT, Tran B, Raza Z, Qi C, Vranckx DJ, Bhalla M, Bluth K, Cousineau TM. (2023). Leveraging Kindness in Canadian Post-Secondary Education: A Conceptual Paper. College Teaching.1-8.
Kratzke IM, Barnhill JL, Putnam KT, Rao S, Meyers MO, Meltzer-Brody S, Farrell T, Bluth K. (2023). Mindfulness self-compassion training to improve wellbeing for surgical residents: A mixed-methods study. Explore. 19(1) 78-83.
Bluth K, Lathren CR, Clepper-Faith M, Larson LM, Ogunbamowo DO, Pflum S (2021). Improving mental health among transgender adolescents: Implementing mindful self-compassion for teens. Journal of Adolescent Research. 1-32.
Bluth, K., Lathren, C., Hickey, J., Zimmerman, S., Wretman, C., Sloane, P. (2021). Self-compassion training for certified nurse assistants in nursing homes, Journal of American Geriatrics Society.
Mullarkey, M., Marchetti, I., Bluth, K., Carlson, C., Beavers, C. (2021). Symptom centrality and infrequency of endorsement identify adolescent depression symptoms more strongly associated with life satisfaction, Journal of Affective Disorders.
Donovan, E., Bluth, K., Scott, H., Mohammed, M., Cousineau, T. M., (2021). Feasibility and acceptability of implementing the Making Friends with Yourself intervention on a college campus, Journal of American College Health. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2021.1891077
Andersen, E., Geiger, P., Tauseef, H., Schiller, C., Bluth, K., Watkins, L., Xia, K., Zhang, Y., Leserman, J., Gaylord, S., Girdler, S. (2021). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on experimental pain sensitivity and cortisol responses in women with early life abuse: A randomized controlled trial. Psychosomatic Medicine.
Lathren, C., Rao, S., Park, J., Bluth, K. (2021). Self-compassion and current close interpersonal relationships: A scoping literature review. Mindfulness, 1-16.
Lathren, C., Bluth, K., Zvara B. (2020). Parent self‐compassion and supportive responses to child difficult emotion: An intergenerational theoretical model rooted in attachment. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 12(3), 368-381.
Boggiss, A. L., Consedine, N., Schache, K., Jefferies, C., Bluth, K., Hofman, P., & Serlachius, A. (2020). A brief self-compassion intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes and disordered eating: a feasibility study. Diabetic Medicine. 37(11), 1854-1860. doi: 10.1111/dme.14352
Bluth, K., Park, J., Lathren, C. (2020) Is parents’ education level associated with adolescent self-compassion? A preliminary report. Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, 16(4), 225-230.
Boggiss, A.L., Consedine N. S., Jefferies C, Bluth, K., Hofman, P. L., Serlachius, A. S. (2020). Protocol for a feasibility study: a brief self-compassion intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes and disordered eating. BMJ Open 2020;10:e034452. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2019-034452.
Lathren, C. R., Sloane, P. D., Zimmerman, S., Bluth, K., Silbersack, J., & Wretman, C. J. (2020). Mindful self-compassion training for nursing assistants in long-term care: Challenges and future directions. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 21(5), 708-709.
Neff, K. D., Bluth, K., Tóth-Király, I., Davidson, O., Knox, M. C., Williamson, Z. & Costigan, A. (2020). Development and validation of the self-compassion scale for youth. Journal of Personality Assessment, 103(1), 92-105.
Lenger, K. A., Roberson, P. N. E., & Bluth, K. (2020). Are contemplative capacities created equal? Examining demographic differences in adolescents’ contemplative capacity and differences in psychological well-being. Mindfulness. 11(7), 1678-1689.
Lathren, C., Bluth, K., Park, J. (2019). Adolescent self-compassion moderates the relationship between perceived stress and internalizing symptoms, Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 36-41.
Bluth, K., & Neff, K. (2018). New frontiers in understanding the benefits of self-compassion. Self and Identity, 17(6), 605-608.10.1080/15298868.2018.1508494.
Lathren, C., Bluth, K., Campo, R. A., Tan, W. (2018). Young adult cancer survivors’ experiences with a mindful self-compassion (MSC) video-chat intervention: A qualitative analysis, Self and Identity, 17(6), 646-665.
Bluth, K., Mullarkey, M., Lathren, C. (2018). Are adolescents who have greater self- compassion more resilient and more likely to embrace new experiences? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(9), 3037-3047,10.1007/s10826-018-1125-1.
Bluth, K., & Eisenlour-Moul, T. (2017). Response to a mindful self-compassion intervention in teens: A within-person association of mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional well-being outcomes, Journal of Adolescence, 57, 108-118.
Bluth, K., Roberson, P., & Girdler, S. (2017). Adolescent sex differences in response to a mindfulness intervention: A call for research, Journal of Child and Family Studies. 26(7), 1900-1914. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0696-6.
Campo, R.A., Bluth, K., Santacroce, S., Spivey, S., Tan, W., Gold, S., Phillips, K., & Gaylord, S., Asher, G. A. (2017). Mindful self-compassion videoconference intervention for nationally recruited posttreatment young adult cancer survivors: Feasibility, acceptability, and psychosocial outcomes, Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer. 25(6), 1759-1768.
Bluth, K., Campo, R., Futch, W. Gaylord, S. (2016). Age and gender differences in the associations of self-compassion and emotional well-being in a large adolescent sample, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(4), 840-853. doi: 10.1007/s10964-016-0567-2.
Bluth, K., Gaylord, S., Campo, R., Mullarkey, M., Hobbs, L. (2016). Making friends with yourself: A mixed methods pilot study of a mindful self-compassion program for adolescents, Mindfulness 7(2), 479-492, doi: 10.1007/s12671-015-0476-6.
Bluth, K., Roberson, P.E., Gaylord, S., Grewen, K., Faurot, K., Arzon, S., Girdler, S. (2016). Does self-compassion protect adolescents from stress? Journal of Child and Family Studies 25(4), 1098-1109,doi: 10.1007/s10826-015-0307-3.
Bluth, K., Campo, R., Pruteanu-Malinici, S., Reams, A., Mullarkey, M., & Broderick, P.C. (2016). A school-based mindfulness pilot study for ethnically diverse at-risk adolescents, Mindfulness 7(1), 90-104, doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0376-1.
Bluth, K., Gaylord, S., Nguyen, K., Bunevicius, A., & Girdler, S.S. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction as a promising intervention for amelioration of premenstrual dysphoric disorder symptoms, Mindfulness 6(6), 1292-1302, doi: 10.1007/s12671-015-0397-4.
Bluth, K., Roberson, P.E., & Gaylord, S. (2015). A pilot study of a mindfulness intervention for adolescents and the potential role of self-compassion in lowering stress, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, 11(4) 292-295, 10.1016/j.explore.2015.04.005.
Kiken, L., Garland, E., Bluth, K., Palsson, O., & Gaylord, S. (2015). From a state to a trait: Trajectories of state mindfulness in meditation during intervention predict changes in trait mindfulness, Personality and Individual Differences, 41-46, doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.044.
Bluth, K. & Blanton, P. (2015). The influence of self-compassion on emotional well-being outcomes among younger and older adolescent males and females, Journal of Positive Psychology, 10, 219-230,doi:10.1080/17439760.2014.936967.
Bluth, K., & Blanton, P. (2014). Mindfulness and self-compassion: Exploring pathways to adolescent emotional well-being, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23, 1298-1309, doi: 10.1007/s10826-013-9830-2.
Bluth, K., Roberson, P., Sams, J., & Billen, R. (2013). A stress model for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders and the introduction of a mindfulness intervention, Journal of Family Theory and Review, 194-213. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12015.
Bluth, K., & Wahler, R. (2011). Does effort matter in mindful parenting? Mindfulness, 2(3), 175-178, doi: 10.1007/s12671-011-0056-3.
Bluth, K., & Wahler, R. (2011). Parenting preschoolers: Can mindfulness help? Mindfulness, 2(4),282-285, doi: 10.1007/s12671-011-0071-4.
Bluth K, Bryce A, Lathren CR, Park J, Pflum S, Clayton M (2024). Reducing suicide ideation in transgender adolescents with Mindful Self-Compassion: An open trial. Mindfulness.
Park J, Bluth K, Lathren C, Leary M, & Hoyle R (2024). The synergy between stress and self‐compassion in building resilience: A 4‐year longitudinal study. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(7), e12978.
