A systematic review of mechanisms of change in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in the treatment of recurrent major depressive disorder.
Clinical Psychology Review April 1, 2015 A. M. van der Velden, W. Kuyken, U. Wattar et al.
This systematic review examines how mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) alleviates recurrent major depressive disorder. Of 476 articles identified, 23 met inclusion criteria. Twelve studies found that changes in mindfulness, rumination, worry, compassion, or meta-awareness were associated with, predicted, or mediated MBCT's effect on treatment outcomes. Preliminary evidence also suggests alterations in attention, memory specificity, self-discrepancy, emotional reactivity, and momentary affect may play a role. The authors conclude that MBCT may work through some theoretically predicted mechanisms but call for more rigorous designs to establish causal specificity.