Stress reduction based on awareness for women affected by disasters: a randomized controlled trial

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on mindful awareness and perceived stress levels in women affected by disasters. The study was a parallel-group, superiority pretest-posttest randomized controlled trial involving women aged 18-65 who were affected by the 6 February 2023, earthquakes in Türkiye and temporarily living in dormitories in Muş province. Seventy participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to an intervention group (n = 35) or a control group (n = 35). Two participants in the control group were lost to follow-up, and the study was completed with 68 participants (intervention n = 35, control n = 33). The intervention group received an eight-week, once-weekly MBSR program tailored to post-disaster psychological needs, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and analyzed with t-tests, repeated measures ANOVA, and multiple regression. Before the intervention, the intervention and control groups were similar in terms of MAAS and PSS scores (p > 0.05). After the intervention, the level of mindful awareness was significantly higher in the intervention group (t(66) = 4.45, p < 0.001, d = 1.08, 95% CI [0.57, 1.59]), while the perceived stress level was significantly lower (t(66) =  -9.20, p < 0.001, d = 2.23, 95% CI [1.63, 2.84]). Repeated measures ANOVA showed that the group × time interaction was significant for both scales (MAAS: F(1, 66) = 15.20, ηp² = 0.19; PSS: F(1, 66) = 82.10, ηp² = 0.55). In the multiple regression analysis, group assignment was the strongest predictor of post-test mindful awareness (β = 0.61, p < 0.001), and perceived stress was negatively related to mindful awareness. No adverse events were reported in either group.findings of this study indicate that the MBSR program is an effective, feasible, and clinically meaningful intervention for increasing mindfulness levels and reducing perceived stress in women affected by disasters. The results suggest that mindfulness-based approaches may be among the evidence-based psychosocial interventions that can be integrated into post-disaster mental health services and may play an important role in the development of support programs for women.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT07283601.