Mindfulness Meditation and Anxiety in Adolescents on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Harrison Blum; C. Rutt; Carol C Nash; Victoria W Joyce; Ralph J Buonopane

doi:10.1080/08854726.2019.1603918

Mindfulness Meditation and Anxiety in Adolescents on an Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Harrison Blum, C. Rutt, Carol C Nash, Victoria W Joyce, Ralph J Buonopane

Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy April 25, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/08854726.2019.1603918 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Pre-post intervention study Peer reviewed
Sample size	53
Population	Adolescent inpatients aged 13–19 on an acute psychiatric unit
Intervention	Mindfulness meditation
Duration	30-minute sessions, immediate pre- and post-assessment
Topics	Anxiety Meditation
Key points	State-anxiety decreased significantly after the first mindfulness meditation session, and patients with psychosis symptoms may have benefited more.

Abstract

This study presents the impact of chaplain-provided mindfulness meditation (MM) groups on state-anxiety in adolescent inpatients on an acute psychiatric unit, an understudied topic that warrants further research given that anxiety is a demonstrated predictor of suicide attempts in adolescents and the elevated suicide risk of this population. A total of 53 adolescent patients, age 13–19, attended optional 30-minute MM groups while hospitalized for inpatient psychiatric care. State-anxiety was assessed immediately before and after each MM session, and psychiatric symptom severity upon admission was compared between patients choosing to attend MM and those who did not. State-anxiety was found to decrease significantly between pre- and post-MM upon first exposure regardless of patient age, sex, and prior experience with MM. Findings also suggest the possibility that patients experiencing symptoms of psychosis may benefit more from MM as compared to other patients. Admission symptom severity was not found to be an indicator of MM attendance. These findings suggest the possibility that MM could be an effective and relatively immediate transdiagnostic intervention to lower state anxiety in adolescents on an inpatient psychiatric unit and invite further implementation and research by staff chaplains on such units.

Comparable studies

Other non-randomized and open-label trials on anxiety, most cited first.

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Psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralized older long-term AIDS survivor men: An open-label safety and feasibility pilot study Older long-term AIDS survivor (OLTAS) self-identified gay men with moderate-to-severe...	2020	Open-label study

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