Abstract
Objectives: Over the past decade there has been an increasing interest in exploring self-compassion as a related and complementary construct to mindfulness. Increases in self-compassion may predict clinical outcomes after MBCT and cultivation of compassion toward self and others is central to CFT. This pilot study compared the impact of MBCT applying implicit self-compassion instructions and CFT employing explicit self-compassion instructions on symptom change, mindfulness, self-compassion, and rumination.Method: This non-randomized wait-list controlled study (N = 58) with two intervention arms (MBCT N = 20, CFT N = 18, Control N = 20) assessed the outcomes of clients with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms from before to after the interventions and at one month follow up (MBCT N = 17, CFT N = 13, Control N = 13).Results: Both treatments resulted in significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and decreases in rumination, depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, MBCT enhanced mindfulness for people who were initially high in rumination, whereas CFT enhanced mindfulness across the board.Conclusion: The findings suggest that both MBCT and CFT, and hence implicit or explicit self-compassion instructions, produce similar clinical outcomes with CFT enhancing mindfulness regardless of client's rumination level.
Highlights
Mindfulness meditation practices are increasingly being incorporated into clinical treatments for a variety of mental health problems with positive results in reducing emotional distress and promoting psychological well-being (Hofman et al, 2010; Keng et al, 2011; Piet and Hougaard, 2011; Goyal et al, 2014)
Participants in the MindfulnessBased Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) group who were high in rumination had significantly higher posttreatment FFMQ scores t(9) = −5.46, p < 0.001, d = −2.14, 95% CI [−38.75, −16.05], whereas the ones low in rumination did not show any significant change (p > 0.05)
Participants in the CFT group who were high in rumination had significantly higher post-treatment FFMQ scores t(8) = −4.11, p < 0.003, d = −1.21, 95% CI [−22.73, −6.38], and the ones low in rumination had significantly higher post-treatment FFMQ scores t(7) = −3.69, p < 0.008, d = −0.95, 95% CI [−19.48, −4.27]
Summary
Mindfulness meditation practices are increasingly being incorporated into clinical treatments for a variety of mental health problems with positive results in reducing emotional distress and promoting psychological well-being (Hofman et al, 2010; Keng et al, 2011; Piet and Hougaard, 2011; Goyal et al, 2014). MBCT is based on MBSR and integrates cognitive approach and instructions. It was developed as a relapse prevention for people with recurrent depression and has been found to reduce the risk of depression relapse by approximately half (Teasdale et al, 2000; Ma and Teasdale, 2004). It has been shown effective for people dealing with anxiety, stress, irritability, and exhaustion (Hofman et al, 2010; Khoury et al, 2013)
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