Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) reduces depression-related self-referential processing in patients with
Thalia D M Stalmeier1, Jelle Lubbers1,2,3, Mira B Cladder-Micus1,2,3
1Radboud University Medical Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Mindfulness, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Cognition & Emotion
|August 2, 2022
Summary
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may help reduce negative self-referential memory bias in bipolar disorder (BD). This bias is linked to depressive symptoms, suggesting a potential treatment mechanism for BD.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Negative self-referential processing is understudied in bipolar disorder (BD) compared to unipolar depression.
- Understanding self-referential processing is crucial for developing effective treatments for BD.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is being investigated for its efficacy in treating BD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between self-referential processing and depressive symptoms in patients with BD.
- To investigate the potential role of self-referential processing in the mechanism of MBCT for BD.
- To examine changes in self-referential processing before and after MBCT.
Main Methods:
- A subsample of 49 patients with BD from an RCT of MBCT for BD were included.
- Patients were assigned to MBCT plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone.
- The self-referential encoding task (SRET) measured positive/negative self-attributions and negative self-referential memory bias before and after treatment.
Main Results:
- At baseline, all SRET measures correlated significantly with depressive symptoms in BD patients.
- Negative self-referential memory bias decreased over time in the MBCT+TAU group compared to the TAU group.
- These findings suggest MBCT may impact negative self-referential processing.
Conclusions:
- Negative self-referential processing, particularly memory bias, is linked to depressive symptoms in BD.
- MBCT may reduce negative self-referential memory bias in patients with BD.
- Further research is needed to confirm the mediating role of reduced negative self-referential memory bias in MBCT for BD.
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