Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Evaluation

Abstract

Mindfulness training has been proposed as a potentially important new approach for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, to date only a few studies have investigated mindfulness training for GAD. The aim of this study was to further investigate symptom change and recovery in pathological worry after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) using an uncontrolled pre-post design. Twenty-three adults with a primary diagnosis of GAD participated in the study. The MBCT program involved 9 weekly 2-hour group sessions, a post-treatment assessment session, and 6-week and 3-month follow-up sessions. Intent-to-treat analysis revealed significant improvements in pathological worry, stress, quality of life, and a number of other symptoms at post-treatment, which were maintained at follow-up. Attrition was also low, and MBCT was perceived as a credible and acceptable intervention. However, when applying standardized recovery criteria to pathological worry scores, the rate of recovery at post-treatment was very small, although improved at follow-up. Overall, the findings suggest MBCT is definitely worthy of further investigation as a treatment option for GAD, but falls well short of outcomes achieved by past research. Possible reasons for the poor rate of recovery, implications, and limitations are briefly outlined.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Quality of Life and Parent-Child Relationship in Women with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

“…According to the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in improving quality of life of patients with generalized anxiety disorder, it should be noted that the results are in line with the results of Evantz et al (17), Kim et al (18), and Criage et al (19). This treatment allows the participants to understand the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations through attention control training with yoga, and physical checks; as a result, anxiety automated processing is reduced.…”

“…Another study by Craigie et al (19) showed significant improvement in pathological worry, stress, and quality of life, which was also maintained in the post-test. Also, during the therapy, there was a low amount of drop outs.…”

Mindful Meditation for Individuals with Asthma and Anxiety: Promising Results from a Multiple Baseline Study

“…A recent review of 19 studies using a mindfulnessbased treatment approach for various anxiety disorders found large effect sizes for improvements on both anxiety and depression, and a moderate effect on quality of life [41]. Participants of mindfulnessbased treatments have also been very receptive to the use of these techniques for treating their anxiety [42][43][44] and have continued to practice mindfulness techniques at a three-year follow-up [45].…”

“…In addition, mindfulness techniques, including meditation, have been used to increase acceptance and living in the present moment [40], which has resulted in reduced stress and anxiety among children [51], adolescents [52][53][54] and adults [38,43,46,55]. This study sought to explore the potential relationship between mindful meditation and both the symptoms of anxiety and asthma.…”

The relationship between low levels of mindfulness skills and pathological worry: The mediating role of psychological inflexibility. [La relación entre habilidades de mindfulness y preocupación patológica: El rol mediador de la inflexibilidad psicológica]

“…It is believed that by teaching mindfulness skills, the use of worry as an avoidant strategy can be undermined. Indeed, both MBSR and MBCT have been reported to be effective in treating GAD in several studies (Craige, Rees, & Marsh, 2008;Evans, Ferrando, Findler, Stowell, Smart, & Haglin, 2008;Kabat-Zinn, Massion, Kristeller, & Peterson, 1992;Kim et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2007; see a review in Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010).…”