Self-Compassion: A Wellness Intervention for the Millennial College Student

Today’s traditional millennial college student (born between 1980-2004) is generally confident, performance oriented, ambitious, adept at multitasking, and successful (Levine & Dean, 2012; Yazykova & McLeigh, 2015). While the typical millennial college student has many strengths, researchers are noticing that this generation is increasingly affected by high rates of anxiety and depression (Brunner et al., 2014; Neff & McGhee, 2009). With a growing interest in the mental health benefits of self-compassion, researchers are finding that self-compassion is significantly decreasing personal distress in millennial college students (Neff & Pommier, 2013). Additionally, evidence suggests that increased self-compassion or treating oneself with kindness and compassion, is an important predictor of wellbeing and resilience (Neff, 2003; Neff, 2011). This article provides a current literature review describing the construct of self-compassion, the advantages of self-compassion, and its applicability to enhancing the wellbeing of the millennial college student. Additionally, the article discusses interventions that act as mediators for developing self-compassion amongst millennial college populations, providing implications for future research.