The effects of amount of home meditation practice in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy on hazard of relapse to depression in the Staying Well after Depression Trial

In people with recurrent major depression who received Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, those who practiced formal mindfulness exercises at home on at least three days per week during the seven-week treatment were almost half as likely to relapse over the following year as those who practiced less often. The average daily duration of formal practice was also linked to better outcomes. These associations held even after accounting for how plausible participants found the treatment. No significant link was found between informal mindfulness practice and relapse risk, possibly because informal practice is harder to measure. The findings suggest that regular formal home practice enhances the protective effect of MBCT against depression relapse.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Few empirical studies have explored the associations between formal and informal mindfulness home practice and outcome in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In this study ninety-nine participants randomised to MBCT in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial completed self-reported ratings of home practice over 7 treatment weeks. Recurrence of Major Depression was assessed immediately after treatment, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12-months post-treatment. Results identified a significant association between mean daily duration of formal home practice and outcome and additionally indicated that participants who reported that they engaged in formal home practice on at least 3 days a week during the treatment phase were almost half as likely to relapse as those who reported fewer days of formal practice. These associations were independent of the potentially confounding variable of participant-rated treatment plausibility. The current study identified no significant association between informal home practice and outcome, although this may relate to the inherent difficulties in quantifying informal home mindfulness practice. These findings have important implications for clinicians discussing mindfulness-based interventions with their participants, in particular in relation to MBCT, where the amount of participant engagement in home practice appears to have a significant positive impact on outcome.