{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T16:51:42Z","timestamp":1781628702028,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), characterized by persistent and excessive worry, exhibits high treatment resistance. While self-compassion training shows promise in alleviating anxiety, its acute effects on stress-related autonomic regulation in GAD remain unclear. This randomized controlled trial examined whether a single-session compassionate self-talk protocol improves emotional and autonomic stress responses in GAD, focusing on high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) as an index of parasympathetic engagement. Forty-six clinically diagnosed GAD participants were randomly assigned to either a compassionate self-talk group (\n                    <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a023) or a neutral self-talk control (\n                    <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a023). Participants completed a cognitive stress task (time-limited Raven\u2019s matrices with evaluative feedback) with continuous electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. State anxiety (STAI-S), perceived stress, state self-compassion (SSCS), and affect (PANAS) were assessed pre- and post-intervention. The self-compassion group showed greater reductions in perceived stress (\n                    <jats:italic>\n                      t\n                      <jats:sub>(44)<\/jats:sub>\n                    <\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0-2.09,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a00.043,\n                    <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a00.62) and increased positive affect (\n                    <jats:italic>\n                      t\n                      <jats:sub>(44)<\/jats:sub>\n                    <\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a02.29,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a00.028,\n                    <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a00.67), though no significant group differences emerged for state anxiety or state self-compassion. During stress exposure, HF-HRV was significantly higher in the self-compassion group (\n                    <jats:italic>\n                      t\n                      <jats:sub>(37)<\/jats:sub>\n                    <\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a02.15,\n                    <jats:italic>\n                      p\n                      <jats:sub>corrected<\/jats:sub>\n                    <\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a00.038) during a late post-feedback interval. Correlational analyses revealed that increased state self-compassion correlated with reduced stress (\n                    <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0-0.54,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    =\u00a00.001) and anxiety (\n                    <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u00a0=\u00a0-0.45,\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    =\u00a00.010). These findings suggest that brief compassionate self-talk may improve subjective stress coping in GAD and may be associated with altered event-related autonomic dynamics during cognitive stress. Given the modest sample and ultra-short HRV segments, physiological interpretations warrant a cautious approach. Future studies may test whether combining self-compassion training with HRV biofeedback optimizes intervention efficacy in clinical settings.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:related-object>\n                      <jats:ext-link>ChiCTR.org.cn<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier ChiCTR2100053374.\n                    <\/jats:related-object>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1795990","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T15:51:57Z","timestamp":1781625117000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Compassionate self-talk enhances autonomic flexibility during cognitive stress in generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial with HRV evidence"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Lijun","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Affiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People\u2019s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yonghui","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Affiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People\u2019s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xianwei","family":"Che","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xi","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Hangzhou Medical College","place":["Hangzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1080\/15298860309032","article-title":"Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself","volume":"2","author":"Neff","year":"2003","journal-title":"Self 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