Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: Further issues in current evidence and future research.
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The authors respond to the article by H. F. Coelho, P. H. Canter, and E. Ernst (2007), which reviewed the current status of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). First, they clarify the randomization procedures in the 2 main MBCT trials. Second, they report posttreatment and follow-up data to show that trial participants allocated to "treatment as usual" did not become worse. Third, they discuss which experimental designs are better for identification of the active component of treatment. Finally, they report reanalyses of the 2 main MBCT trials with multilevel modeling that corrected for intragroup correlations. These analyses reinforce the original findings: For patients with 3 or more previous episodes, MBCT significantly reduced the risk of a further episode of depression and significantly decreased mean scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, C. H. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961) after treatment.
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Mindfulness-based approaches, unlike cognitive therapy, are not aimed at changing the contents of mental experience, but rather target the relationship the individual has with thoughts and feelings.
“Mindfulness-based approaches, unlike cognitive therapy, are not aimed at changing the contents of mental experience, but rather target the relationship the individual has with thoughts and feelings [22].”
From Putting a Hold on the Downward Spiral of Paranoia in the Social World: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Individuals with a History of Depression (2013) · cites this paper as [22]
The Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy section says MBCT teaches patients to relate differently to thoughts and feelings, treating them as passing events. It does not explicitly say that mindfulness-based approaches generally avoid changing the contents of mental experience, or establish the claimed contrast with cognitive therapy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPrevious studies of MBCT have not found significant intragroup dependency, and re-analysis of datasets using hierarchical linear modelling has been found to reinforce original findings.
“Previous studies of MBCT have not found significant intragroup dependency, and re-analysis of datasets using hierarchical linear modelling has been found to reinforce original findings (Williams et al. 2008).”
From The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in Real-World Healthcare Services (2020) · cites this paper as Williams et al. 2008
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- Authors
- Williams, J. M. G., Russell, I., & Russell, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Bangor University (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 524-529
- ISSN
- 0022-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2117
- PMC
- PMC2834575
- OpenAlex
- W1989321901
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 12.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (GR067797)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, depression relapse prevention, randomized controlled trials, usual care, multilevel modeling, Beck Depression Inventory, recurrent depression
- MeSH terms
- Attitude, Awareness, Depression, Humans, Psychotherapy, Group, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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