Self-Compassion and Self-Forgiveness in Alcohol Risk, Treatment and Recovery: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Self-compassion and self-forgiveness are two self-focused, positive coping approaches that may reduce risk of problem drinking and/or aid in treatment/recovery from alcohol use disorder. The present systematic review aimed to evaluate support for the unique and complementary roles of self-compassion and self-forgiveness in alcohol outcomes. Methods: A systematic literature search yielded 18 studies examining self-compassion, 18 studies examining self-forgiveness and 1 study examining both constructs in alcohol outcomes. Results: Findings suggest greater self-compassion and self-forgiveness relate to lower likelihood of problem drinking. Self-forgiveness was considerably more researched in treatment/recovery outcomes than self-compassion; self-forgiveness-based interventions appear able to improve drinking-adjacent outcomes, and self-forgiveness may increase across various alcohol treatments. Finally, research suggests that associations of self-compassion and/or self-forgiveness with alcohol outcomes could be driven by numerous factors, including coping-motivated drinking, depression, psychache, social support perceptions, mental health status and/or psychiatric distress. Conclusions: Self-compassion and self-forgiveness both appear protective against harmful alcohol outcomes. Nevertheless, many questions remain about the role of self-forgiveness and, particularly, self-compassion in alcohol treatment and recovery outcomes. Future research should examine whether targeted interventions and/or adjunctive therapeutic supports designed to increase self-compassion or self-forgiveness can reduce alcohol use disorder symptoms to facilitate alcohol treatment and recovery success.