A Brief Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Intervention as a Population-Level Strategy for Anxiety and Depression

Emilee E Burgess; Steven Selchen; Benjamin D Diplock; Neil A Rector

doi:10.1007/s41811-021-00105-x

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Intervention as a Population-Level Strategy for Anxiety and Depression

Int J Cogn Ther. 2021;14(2):380-398. doi: 10.1007/s41811-021-00105-x. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Authors

Emilee E Burgess¹, Steven Selchen^{1

2

3}, Benjamin D Diplock¹, Neil A Rector^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Canada.
³ Joseph Brant Hospital, Burlington, Ontario Canada.

Abstract

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have emerged as clinically effective interventions for anxiety and depression although there are significant barriers to their access in the general population. The present study examined the effectiveness of a 5-week abbreviated mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) intervention for a physician-referred, treatment-seeking, community sample (N = 54) with mood and/or anxiety symptom burden. Treatment effects demonstrated significant reductions in mood and anxiety symptom severity and significant increases in general well-being. Observed effect sizes were generally large, with high response and remission rates. The present study offers preliminary support that an abbreviated MBCT protocol can offer large treatment effects for decreasing mood and anxiety symptoms and could potentially offer an effective population-level strategy to improve cost-effectiveness and access to care.

Keywords: Brief intervention; Community sample; Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT); Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs); Mood and anxiety symptoms.