Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences International Journal of Behavioral Sciences 2322-1194 20 1 2026 04 23 Effectiveness of a Compassion-Focused Group Bereavement Intervention on Grief Intensity, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, and Self-Compassion among Bereaved Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial 19 29 250699 10.30491/ijbs.2026.569726.2300 EN Zahra Javedanipour Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran 0009-0007-5604-5637 Haniye Zarif Golbar Yazdi Department of Psychology and Counseling, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran 0000-0001-7071-0145 Fatemeh Alidoosti Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran 0000-0002-2150-6540 Seyedeh Maryam Moshirian Farahi Department of Psychology and Counseling, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran 0000-0003-3687-1417 Journal Article 2026 03 10 <strong>Introduction:</strong> Grief is a universal experience with profound psychological effects. This study examined the effectiveness of a compassion-focused group bereavement intervention on grief intensity, emotion regulation difficulties, and self-compassion in bereaved women. <strong>Method:</strong> A randomized controlled trial with pretest–posttest–follow-up design was conducted. Twenty-seven bereaved women from Mashhad, Iran, were purposively sampled and randomly assigned to intervention (n = 13) or control (n = 14) groups. The intervention comprised ten weekly 90-minute compassion-focused grief sessions. Outcomes were measured at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up using the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG, Prigerson et al., 1995), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS, Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS, Neff, 2003), and analyzed with mixed repeated-measures ANOVA. <strong>Results:</strong> The intervention significantly reduced Grief Intensity (F (2,24)=9.84, p=0.001, <span>η</span><span>²</span>_p=0.451), Emotion Regulation Difficulties (F(2,24)=11.37, p<0.001, <span>η</span><span>²</span>_p=0.485), and increased Self-Compassion (F(2,24)=4.82, p=0.018, <span>η</span><span>²</span>_p=0.287) compared to controls. Improvements in grief and emotion regulation were maintained at follow-up, whereas self-compassion increases were most evident immediately post-intervention. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Compassion-focused group bereavement intervention effectively alleviates grief, improves emotion regulation, and enhances self-compassion, supporting its use in therapeutic programs to promote mental health. https://www.behavsci.ir/article_250699_ab3f47f8841d64f7eb450ed2553d3628.pdf