The Effects of a Standardized Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and an Additional Mindfulness-Based Training on Interoceptive Abilities in a Depressed Cohort.
Georgios Karanassios, Dana Schultchen, Matthias Möhrle, Götz Berberich, Olga Pollatos
Brain Sciences October 15, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11101355 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental pre-post comparison with two conditions and healthy control baseline comparison Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Depressive patients, compared with baseline data from healthy controls |
| Interventions | Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) |
| Duration | Four weeks |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognitive-behavioural therapy Interoception |
| Key findings | Depressed patients had higher depression and lower mindfulness and interoceptive abilities than healthy controls at baseline. After CBT, depressive symptoms decreased significantly and mindfulness and interoceptive abilities increased. Adding MBSR to CBT produced no additional effect on depression, mindfulness, or interoceptive abilities over the time course. |
Abstract
Background: Interoceptive accuracy and sensibility are decreased in depressive samples. However, different studies showed that cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and mindfulness interventions are promising approaches to improve interoceptive abilities. Based on these findings, the study aims to investigate the pre-post effect of CBT in a depressive sample. Additionally, we examined the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training in the context of CBT.
Methods: Sixty depressive patients were investigated over four weeks, with two conditions-CBT vs. CBT + MBSR. Further, the changes in interoceptive abilities (interoceptive accuracy and sensibility) of the depressive patients were compared to baseline data of healthy controls.
Results: The depressive patients showed significantly higher levels of depression and lower mindfulness and interoceptive abilities than healthy controls. The depressive sample showed a significant decrease in depressive symptoms and increased mindfulness and interoceptive abilities after CBT. Lastly, depressive patients of the CBT + MBSR condition did not differ from those who only received CBT in the levels of depression, mindfulness or interoceptive abilities over the time course.
Discussion: This study demonstrates a positive effect of CBT on interoceptive abilities in a depressive sample. It is shown that the depressive sample did not profit from additional mindfulness training. It can be concluded that CBT is an efficient treatment, resulting in increased interoceptive abilities. Unexpectedly, the combination of CBT and MBSR has no additional effect on these changes. Future studies should investigate the effect of MBSR as a stand-alone therapy.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Mindfulness and Objective Measures of Body Awareness: A Preregistered Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis. Biopsychosocial science and medicine May 1, 2025
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Depressive Symptoms and Their Relationship to Interoceptive Awareness: A Systematic Review. Alpha psychiatry December 1, 2025
- Exploring Visceral Body Scan, Somatosensory Body Scan, and External Meditation: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study Mindfulness September 1, 2025
- The relationship between mindfulness and athletes' mental skills may be explained by emotion regulation and self-regulation. BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation March 19, 2024
- Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body. Brain Sciences May 27, 2022
Cites 10
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Body Awareness in Patients with Chronic Pain and Comorbid Depression Frontiers in Psychology June 30, 2016
- Phenomenological Fingerprints of Four Meditations: Differential State Changes in Affect, Mind-Wandering, Meta-Cognition, and Interoception Before and After Daily Practice Across 9 Months of Training Mindfulness August 18, 2016
- Dispositional mindfulness moderates the relation between neuroticism and depressive symptoms Personality and Individual Differences September 16, 2011
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: a promising new approach to preventing depressive relapse The British Journal of Psychiatry May 1, 2012
and 5 more in the library