Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
January 1, 2000
John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, James Williams et al.
2,613 citations
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a group intervention, trains recovered recurrently depressed patients to disengage from depressive thinking patterns that can trigger relapse. In a randomized trial with 145 recovered recurrently depressed patients, MBCT plus treatment as usual was compared to treatment as usual alone over 60 weeks. For patients with three or more previous depressive episodes (77% of the sample), MBCT significantly reduced the risk of relapse or recurrence. However, for patients with only two previous episodes, MBCT did not reduce relapse. MBCT offers a promising, cost-effective psychological approach to preventing relapse in recovered recurrently depressed patients.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
January 1, 2004
S. Helen Ma, John D. Teasdale
1,401 citations
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) added to usual care reduced relapse from 78% to 36% in recovered depressed patients with three or more previous episodes, replicating earlier findings. In patients with only two recent episodes, relapse rates were 20% with usual care and 50% with MBCT. MBCT was most effective at preventing relapses not preceded by life events. Relapses in the two-episode group were more often linked to significant life events. The two-episode group reported less childhood adversity and later first depression onset, suggesting distinct populations. MBCT is an effective way to prevent relapse in patients with three or more previous episodes.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
January 1, 2002
John D. Teasdale, Richard G. Moore, Hazel Hayhurst et al.
966 citations
Metacognitive awareness—experiencing negative thoughts and feelings as passing mental events rather than as reflections of the self—may protect against depression relapse. In a vulnerable group of residually depressed patients, reduced accessibility of this metacognitive set was linked to greater relapse risk. Cognitive therapy (CT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) both reduced relapse by increasing metacognitive awareness, not by altering belief in thought content. CT increased accessibility of metacognitive sets in residually depressed patients, and MBCT did so in recovered depressed patients. These therapies may work by changing how people relate to their thoughts.
JAMA Psychiatry
April 28, 2016
Willem Kuyken, Fiona C Warren, Rod S Taylor et al.
815 citations
For people with recurrent depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) reduces the risk of depressive relapse within a 60-week follow-up period compared with usual care or other active treatments, including antidepressants. A meta-analysis of individual patient data from 9 randomized trials involving 1258 patients (mean age 47.1 years, 75% female) found that those receiving MBCT had a 31% lower risk of relapse versus no MBCT (hazard ratio 0.69), and a 21% lower risk versus other active treatments (hazard ratio 0.79). Sociodemographic and psychiatric variables did not significantly modify the treatment effect, but greater severity of depressive symptoms before treatment was associated with a larger benefit from MBCT.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
January 1, 2000
James Williams, John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal et al.
436 citations
Recovered depressed patients who received a psychological treatment designed to reduce relapse risk recalled fewer generic memories in response to cue words, while those receiving usual care showed no change. This suggests that overgeneral autobiographical memory, previously observed in depressed, suicidal, and PTSD patients, can be modified through treatment.
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
March 1, 2002
Zindel V. Segal, John D. Teasdale, Jane Williams et al.
420 citations
A 17-item scale, the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Adherence Scale (MBCT-AS), was developed to measure how closely therapists follow the MBCT protocol for preventing recurrence of major depressive disorder. The scale assesses behaviors specific to MBCT and those shared with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Independent ratings of recorded group sessions showed that raters could use the MBCT-AS reliably, MBCT therapists adhered to the protocol, and MBCT could be distinguished from CBT on both the MBCT-AS and a CBT adherence scale. The MBCT-AS may help ensure proper delivery of MBCT in future research and identify unique elements of the treatment.
Clinical Psychology Science and Practice
January 1, 2003
John D. Teasdale, Zindel V. Segal, James Williams
215 citations
Mindfulness-based clinical interventions are generally effective, but applying mindfulness as a generic technique across different disorders without tailoring it to the specific factors maintaining each condition is cautioned against. The text raises six issues: mindfulness can be unhelpful in some contexts; effective mindfulness instruction includes a clear problem formulation shared with clients; there may be multiple dimensions of effectiveness underlying its apparent simplicity; mindfulness originated from a particular view of emotional suffering that implies broader changes beyond meditation; professionals should match mindfulness components to the targeted psychopathology; and mindfulness may affect processes common to different pathologies.