Nonrandomized Open Trial of a Mindfulness- and Compassion-Based Selective Preventive Mobile Health Intervention for Forcibly Displaced People.

A nonrandomized open trial tested the feasibility of Mindfulness-SOS, a lay- and minimally guided mobile health mindfulness- and compassion-based intervention adapted for diverse forcibly displaced people, among 60 Eritrean asylum-seekers in an unstable urban setting in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-eight participants showed high adherence to session modules and moderate overall adherence. Higher pre-intervention post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-migration living difficulties predicted lower engagement with meditation practice exercises. Greater engagement with meditation exercises was associated with less deterioration in depression and anxiety, but not with change in post-traumatic stress symptoms, from pre- to post-intervention. Mindfulness-SOS may be a feasible selective preventive intervention for asylum-seekers in stressful post-displacement settings.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This study tested the feasibility of Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees, a novel lay- and minimally guided mobile health mindfulness- and compassion-based intervention, that is trauma-sensitive and socio-culturally adapted for diverse forcibly displaced people. A pre-registered, nonrandomized, single-arm, open-trial of Mindfulness-SOS as a selective preventive intervention was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, among 60 Eritrean asylum-seekers living in an unstable urban post-displacement setting in the Middle East (Israel). Measures included digital usage metrics, and self-report measures of stress- and trauma-related mental health and socio-contextual stressors. Asylum-seekers (n = 58) demonstrated high rates of adherence to the session modules and generally moderate rates of overall adherence. Elevated pre-intervention post-traumatic stress symptoms severity and post-migration living difficulties stressors prospectively predicted lower levels of engagement with meditation practice exercises. Finally, greater engagement with meditation practice exercises was associated with attenuated deterioration in depression and anxiety, but not with change in post-traumatic stress symptoms, from pre- to post-intervention. Mindfulness-SOS may be a feasible selective preventive intervention approach among asylum-seekers in stressful post-displacement settings. The study was pre-registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04761510; clinicaltrials.gov; 2021-02-17).