An interventional study of Mindful Self-Compassion and Usual care in Breast Cancer, sponsored by Chung Yuan Christian University. Recruiting at 2 sites in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-04.
Sponsored by Chung Yuan Christian University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
This clinical trial will test a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) group program after breast cancer treatment. MSC teaches people to notice difficult feelings and respond to themselves with kindness.
The study will enroll 80 adults aged 20 years or older. They must have completed their main breast cancer treatment within 12 months before enrollment.
The main questions are:
Researchers will compare MSC plus usual care with usual care alone during a waiting period. They expect the MSC group to report greater psychological growth and less emotional distress.
Cheng Ching General Hospital will help recruit participants and explain the study before obtaining written consent.
The study will recruit participants in two cohorts of 40 people each. Within each cohort, participants will join the MSC group or waitlist group by chance. Each participant has an equal chance of joining either group. Each cohort will include 20 participants in each group. Across both cohorts, there will be 40 participants in each group.
Participants in the MSC group will:
Both groups will continue their usual medical and psychological care. Both groups will complete questionnaires at three times:
The waitlist group will continue usual care without the study's MSC program during these assessments. After completing the three-month follow-up questionnaires, they can choose to attend the MSC program.
This study will evaluate an adapted Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program and explore potential mechanisms of psychological adjustment among breast cancer survivors. Psychological adjustment encompasses both posttraumatic growth and psychological distress. Posttraumatic growth refers to perceived positive changes arising through coping with cancer, including appreciation of life, relationships with others, new possibilities, personal strength, and spiritual change.
The study will examine whether changes in self-compassion are associated with changes in these adjustment outcomes through cognitive and emotional processes. Proposed mechanisms include intrusive and deliberate rumination, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and experiential avoidance. Positive and negative dimensions of self-compassion will be scored and analyzed separately.
The study will use a two-arm, parallel-group, individually randomized controlled design. Eighty participants will be recruited in two cohorts of 40. Within each cohort, participants will be individually randomized in a 1:1 ratio to MSC plus usual care or a usual-care waitlist control group, with 20 participants per arm. Across both cohorts, each study arm will include 40 participants.
Cheng Ching General Hospital will assist with participant recruitment. Informed consent procedures will be conducted at the hospital under the responsibility of co-investigator Dr. Dah-Cherng Yeh. The Chung Yuan Christian University research team will coordinate the study and deliver the MSC program online through live videoconferencing.
Personnel independent of recruitment, baseline assessment, and program facilitation will generate computer-based randomization sequences using variable block sizes within each cohort. An independent custodian will retain the allocation information. Assignments will be disclosed only after written informed consent and baseline assessment have been completed.
The adapted MSC program will retain core content involving mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity. Adaptations to reduce participation demands include shortening weekly sessions to 105 minutes and omitting the standard midprogram retreat. Two experienced MSC facilitators will review the planned content for consistency with the MSC manual.
A licensed clinical psychologist with MSC-related training and group facilitation experience will lead the online program, supported by a research staff member with clinical psychology training. Each cohort will have one initial MSC course group with a planned enrollment of 20 participants. Facilitators will document attendance, delivered content, adjustments, and participant responses. Participants will be invited to record home-practice frequency, duration, and type. Participants who discontinue sessions will still be invited, with their consent, to complete subsequent assessments.
Participants and facilitators cannot be blinded to group assignment. Post-program questionnaire collection will, where possible, be conducted by research personnel who are not involved in program facilitation. Assessments will occur at baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2). Both groups will use corresponding assessment windows within each cohort.
The waitlist group will continue usual medical and psychological care throughout the controlled assessment period. Necessary treatment will not be restricted in either group. Additional psychological care, participation in mindfulness- or compassion-related programs, and major medical treatment changes will be documented.
After completing T2 for their respective cohort, waitlist participants will be offered an MSC program with the same structure. Data from their subsequent optional MSC participation will not be included in the primary controlled comparison.
A group-by-time mixed-design analysis of variance will examine changes across baseline, post-program, and three-month follow-up assessments. Mediation analyses within the MSC group will explore whether changes in rumination and emotion regulation statistically account for associations between changes in self-compassion and changes in psychological distress and posttraumatic growth. Bootstrap confidence intervals will be used to evaluate indirect effects.
14,825 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 3,319 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 80 is above the median of 72 across 10,896 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.
Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →This is the only study on the registry with Chung Yuan Christian University as lead sponsor.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will receive an eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) group program through live online videoconferencing, in addition to their usual medical and psychological care. The program consists of one 105-minute session per week, with mindfulness and self-compassion practices, writing, group discussions, and home-practice guidance.
Behavioral: Mindful Self-Compassion · Other: Usual care
Participants will continue their usual medical and psychological care without receiving the study's Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program during the controlled assessment period. After completing the three-month follow-up assessment (T2), participants will be offered the opportunity to attend the same eight-week MSC program. Their subsequent MSC participation will not be included in the primary controlled comparison.
Other: Usual care
An adapted eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) group program for breast cancer survivors, delivered online through live videoconferencing in weekly 105-minute sessions. A licensed clinical psychologist with MSC-related training and group facilitation experience will lead the program, supported by a research staff member with clinical psychology training. The program retains core MSC content involving mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity. Activities include guided mindfulness and self-compassion practices, compassionate writing, group sharing, and exercises for responding to difficult emotions and relationships. Participants will receive home-practice guidance and be invited to record practice frequency, duration, and type. To reduce participation demands, sessions are shortened from the standard 150 minutes to 105 minutes, and the midprogram four-hour retreat is omitted.
Also known as: MSC
Participants in both groups will continue their existing medical and psychological care as clinically indicated. The study will not restrict necessary treatment or assign a standardized usual-care regimen. Additional psychological care, participation in mindfulness- or compassion-related programs, and major medical treatment changes will be documented.
Change in Psychological Distress Measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Psychological distress will be assessed using the 14-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Each item is scored from 0 to 3. Anxiety and depression items will be combined into a total psychological distress score ranging from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater psychological distress.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form Score
Posttraumatic growth will be assessed using a 10-item short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, with items referring to the breast cancer experience. The measure covers relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation of life. Each item is scored from 0 to 5. Total scores range from 0 to 50, with higher scores indicating greater posttraumatic growth.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Positive Self-Compassion Score
Positive self-compassion will be assessed using the six positive-dimension items of the Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SCS-SF), covering self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Items are rated from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). The six item scores will be averaged, yielding a score from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate greater positive self-compassion. This dimension will be scored and analyzed separately from negative self-compassion.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Negative Self-Compassion Score
Negative self-compassion will be assessed using the six negative-dimension items of the Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SCS-SF), covering self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification. Items are rated from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). Raw item scores will be averaged without reverse scoring, yielding a score from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate greater negative self-responding. This dimension will be scored and analyzed separately from positive self-compassion; no combined overall score will be calculated.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Intrusive Rumination Measured by the Event Related Rumination Inventory
Intrusive rumination will be assessed using the 10-item intrusive rumination subscale of the Event Related Rumination Inventory (ERRI), referring to the breast cancer experience. Items assess involuntary, recurring thoughts about the experience and are rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (often). The 10 item scores will be summed, yielding a subscale total from 0 to 30. Higher scores indicate more frequent intrusive rumination. This subscale will be analyzed separately from deliberate rumination.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Deliberate Rumination Measured by the Event Related Rumination Inventory
Deliberate rumination will be assessed using the 10-item deliberate rumination subscale of the Event Related Rumination Inventory (ERRI), referring to the breast cancer experience. Items assess intentional reflection on the experience and its meaning and are rated from 0 (not at all) to 3 (often). The 10 item scores will be summed, yielding a subscale total from 0 to 30. Higher scores indicate more frequent deliberate rumination. This subscale will be analyzed separately from intrusive rumination.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Cognitive Reappraisal Measured by the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire
Cognitive reappraisal will be assessed using the six-item cognitive reappraisal subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Items assess the use of changes in thinking to regulate emotional responses and are rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The six item scores will be averaged, yielding a subscale score from 1 to 7. Higher scores indicate more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal. This subscale will be analyzed separately from expressive suppression.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Expressive Suppression Measured by the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire
Expressive suppression will be assessed using the four-item expressive suppression subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Items assess the tendency to inhibit the outward expression of emotions and are rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The four item scores will be averaged, yielding a subscale score from 1 to 7. Higher scores indicate more frequent use of expressive suppression. This subscale will be analyzed separately from cognitive reappraisal.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Change in Experiential Avoidance Measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II
Experiential avoidance will be assessed using the six-item Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Instructions and item contexts refer to cancer- and treatment-related experiences. Items are rated from 1 (never true) to 7 (always true). All items are directly scored and summed, yielding a total from 6 to 42. Higher scores indicate greater experiential avoidance and lower psychological flexibility.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), immediately after the eight-week program (T1), and three months after program completion (T2).
Plan to share: No — There is currently no plan to share individual participant data outside the study team due to participant privacy considerations and the scope of informed consent.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Nov 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jun 2027, 7 months after the start.
Of 2,661 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Breast Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 33 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 16 and three quarters within 66. This study's planned 7 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 2,771 studies reached it within 33 months; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 66.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.