Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention for Stimulant Dependent Adults: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Stress and negative affect are linked to relapse in stimulant dependence.
• Mindfulness strategies show potential for reducing relapse risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) effectiveness against a health education control.
• To assess MBRP's impact on stimulant use, negative affect, and psychiatric severity in adults with stimulant dependence.

Main Methods:

• Pilot randomized clinical trial involving stimulant-dependent adults (18+).
• 12-week intervention: 4-week contingency management (CM) lead-in, followed by concurrent MBRP or health education (HE) with CM.
• Primary outcomes: weekly urine drug screens, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Addiction Severity Index.

Main Results:

• Medium effect sizes favored MBRP for negative affect and psychiatric severity.
• MBRP group showed greater reductions in depression severity (p=0.03, ES=0.58) and psychiatric severity (p=0.01, ES=0.61).
• MBRP was associated with lower stimulant use odds in participants with mood/anxiety disorders (OR=0.78, p=0.03; OR=0.68, p=0.04).

Conclusions:

• MBRP effectively reduces negative affect and psychiatric impairment in stimulant-dependent adults.
• MBRP is particularly beneficial for reducing stimulant use in individuals with co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders.