Abstract
Forensic inpatients (i. e., individuals found not responsible for a criminal offense on account of mental illness) represent an often marginalized and difficult-to-treat population. This has led to the need for research exploring the effectiveness of novel interventions. A Canadian forensic hospital has developed an 8-weeks mindfulness and yoga training program (MTP). This pilot study examined the potential effects of this program on patients' mindfulness, stress, and use of cognitive and emotion regulation strategies. A sample of 13 forensic inpatients (male = 92%) participating in the MTP program completed self-report measures assessing dispositional mindfulness, perceived stress, and use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies at baseline, post-intervention, and a 3-months follow-up. Repeated measure ANOVAs found a significant increase in the describe facet of mindfulness (p = 0.03) with a large effect size (ηp2 = 0.26) and a significant decrease in stress (p = 0.003) with a large effect size (ηp2 = 0.39). Pairwise comparisons revealed medium to large significant changes between baseline and post-intervention for both the describe facet (p = 0.03, Hedge's g = 0.55) and stress (p = 0.003, Hedge's g = 0.70). However, comparisons were insignificant between baseline and follow-up. No significant main effects were found on the use of cognitive emotion regulation strategies. This pilot study offers preliminary support for the use of the MTP as an adjunctive therapy in forensic inpatient treatment. Further investigation is needed into the long-term impacts of this training.
Highlights
Mindfulness is the process of being purposefully present, alert, and attentive in the moment [1]
Thirty-six adult forensic inpatients expressed interest in participation. They were included in the study if they had self-selected to be enrolled in an 8-weeks mindfulness training program (MTP) and were 18 years or older
We found a significant increase in the describing facet which was driven by the change between baseline and post-intervention
Summary
Mindfulness is the process of being purposefully present, alert, and attentive in the moment [1]. The goal of mindfulness is to teach one to self-observe in an objective and detached manner and to be reflective rather than reflexive [2,3,4]. One modality of practicing mindfulness is yoga, which has been described as mindfulness in motion and encompasses a group of integrative physical and spiritual practices with the goal to transform the mind and body [2, 5]. Unlike many other mindfulness strategies which tend to be sedentary, yoga involves movement and focuses awareness onto one’s physical body, and one’s motion in the present. Yoga is suggested to be an effective treatment for stress, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse [2, 5, 9,10,11]
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