For chronically depressed patients who have not responded to prior treatments, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) produces clinical benefits that persist for at least six months after the program ends. Depressive symptoms, quality of life, rumination, mindfulness skills, and self-compassion all remained stable during follow-up, and remission rates actually increased further. Patients who entered treatment with higher levels of rumination showed greater reductions in depressive symptoms and better quality of life at six months, after accounting for initial symptom severity. Other factors—duration of the current depressive episode, degree of treatment resistance, childhood trauma, and baseline mindfulness or self-compassion—did not predict outcomes.
In a multi-centre trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for recurrent depression, teacher competence—assessed using the Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC)—showed no significant association with patient adherence, potential mechanisms of change (rumination, cognitive reactivity, mindfulness, self-compassion), or key outcomes (depressive symptoms post-treatment and depressive relapse/recurrence over 15 months). The authors suggest several possible explanations, including the standardized delivery of MBCT, the emphasis on self-reliance in the learning process, participant-related factors, challenges in assessing teacher competence, and the limited sample of videotaped sessions. Further research is needed to explore these explanations.