Trials
April 2, 2018
Clara Strauss, Jenny Gu, Nikki Pitman et al.
Healthcare workers experience higher levels of work-related stress and higher rates of sickness absence than workers in other sectors. Psychological approaches have potential in providing healthcare workers with the knowledge and skills to recognise stress and to manage stress effectively. The strongest evidence for effectiveness in reducing stress in the workplace is for stress-management...
Mindfulness
January 16, 2018
Kate Cavanagh, Alasdair Churchard, Puffin O'Hanlon et al.
Building on previous research, this study compared the effects of two brief, online mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs; with and without formal meditation practice) and a no intervention control group in a non-clinical sample. One hundred and fifty-five university staff and students were randomly allocated to a 2-week, self-guided, online MBI with or without mindfulness meditation practice,...
Mindfulness
December 18, 2017
Jenny Gu, Kate Cavanagh, Clara Strauss
Previous research examining the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and their mechanisms of change has been hampered by failure to control for non-specific factors, such as social support and interaction with group members, facilitator contact and expectation of benefit, meaning that it remained possible that benefits of MBIs could have been attributable, perhaps entirely, to...
Mindfulness
November 6, 2017
Moitree Banerjee, Kate Cavanagh, Clara Strauss
Little is known about the factors associated with engagement in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Moreover, engagement in MBIs is usually defined in terms of class attendance ('physical engagement') only. However, in the psychotherapy literature, there is increasing emphasis on measuring participants' involvement with interventions ('psychological engagement'). This study tests a model...
Mindfulness
May 25, 2017
Moitree Banerjee, Kate Cavanagh, Clara Strauss
86 citations
In order to increase the cost-efficiency, availability and ease of accessing and delivering mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), clinical and research interest in mindfulness-based self-help (MBSH) interventions has increased in recent years. Several studies have shown promising results of effectiveness of MBSH. However, like all self-help interventions, dropout rates and disengagement from...
PLoS One
June 15, 2016
Clara Strauss, Kate Cavanagh, Annie Oliver et al.
ObjectiveMindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can reduce risk of depressive relapse for people with a history of recurrent depression who are currently well. However, the cognitive, affective and motivational features of depression and anxiety might render MBIs ineffective for people experiencing current symptoms. This paper presents a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of...
Psychological Assessment
April 14, 2016
Jenny Gu, Clara Strauss, Catherine Crane et al.
Research into the effectiveness and mechanisms of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) requires reliable and valid measures of mindfulness. The 39-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-39) is a measure of mindfulness commonly used to assess change before and after MBIs. However, the stability and invariance of the FFMQ factor structure have not yet been tested before and after an...
PLoS One
2016
Billie Lever Taylor, Kate Cavanagh, Clara Strauss
Perinatal mental health difficulties are associated with adverse consequences for parents and infants. However, the potential risks associated with the use of psychotropic medication for pregnant and breastfeeding women and the preferences expressed by women for non-pharmacological interventions mean it is important to ensure that effective psychological interventions are available. It has been...
Frontiers in Psychology
August 14, 2015
Clara Strauss, Neil Thomas, Mark Hayward
Adapted mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) could be of benefit for people distressed by hearing voices. This paper presents a systematic review of studies exploring this possibility and we ask five questions: (1) Is trait mindfulness associated with reduced distress and disturbance in relation to hearing voices? (2) Are MBIs feasible for people distressed by hearing voices? (3) Are MBIs...
Clinical Psychology Review
April 1, 2015
Jenny Gu, Clara Strauss, R. Bond et al.
Given the extensive evidence base for the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), researchers have started to explore the mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects on psychological outcomes, using methods of mediation analysis. No known studies have systematically reviewed and statistically integrated mediation studies in this...
Frontiers in Psychology
2015
Sarah F. Fielding-Smith, Mark Hayward, Clara Strauss et al.
A primary goal of cognitive behavior therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is to reduce distress and disability, not to change the positive symptoms of psychosis, such as hearing voices. Despite demonstrated associations between beliefs about voices and distress, the effects of CBTp on reducing voice distress are disappointing. Research has begun to explore the role that the psychological construct of...
The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
December 1, 2014
Robert Marx, Clara Strauss, Cleo Williamson
AbstractA feasibility study evaluated five adapted Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) groups that were delivered to staff in a National Health Service (NHS) mental health Trust as part of a staff health and wellbeing initiative. Using an uncontrolled design typical of a feasibility study, recruitment, retention and acceptability of the groups were assessed. Effectiveness was also...
Behaviour Research and Therapy
December 2014
Billie Lever Taylor, Clara Strauss, Kate Cavanagh et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) involves approximately twenty hours of therapist contact time and is not universally available. MBCT self-help (MBCT-SH) may widen access but little is known about its effectiveness. This paper presents a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of MBCT-SH for students. Eighty students were randomly assigned to an eight-week MBCT-SH condition or a wait-list...
Schizophrenia Bulletin
July 2014
Simon McCarthy-Jones, Neil Thomas, Clara Strauss et al.
The phenomenological diversity of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) is not currently accounted for by any model based around a single mechanism. This has led to the proposal that there may be distinct AVH subtypes, which each possess unique (as well as shared) underpinning mechanisms. This could have important implications both for research design and clinical interventions because different...
Clara Strauss, Amy Arbon, Michael Barkham et al.
preprint
Abstract Background Depression has serious personal, family and economic consequences. It is estimated that it will cost £12.15 billion to the economy each year in England by 2026. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) is the National Health Service talking therapies service in England for adults experiencing anxiety or depression. Over 1 million people are referred to IAPT every...
Elena Nixon, Shireen Patel, Priya Patel et al.
BACKGROUND Mindfulness-based and stress reduction interventions have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines in England and Wales as effective preventive mental well-being interventions for health care and other public sector staff at risk of poor mental health. OBJECTIVE This trial aims to assess the effectiveness of the increasingly implemented...