Mental and physical health outcomes following the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP) in a clinical practice setting

Abstract

IntroductionThe Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP) is a novel mind-body program aimed at reducing stress-related symptoms. There is growing evidence that this treatment reduces mental and physical health symptoms, however, no research has evaluated whether the 3RP is equally effective in reducing symptoms in patients with co-occurring versus individual mental-physical health concerns. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the 3RP for reducing mental and physical health symptoms among patients with versus without co-occurring mental-physical health concerns. MethodsParticipants (N=222 physician referred patients) completed the 3RP in an academic medical setting. Participants were categorized based on their primary self-reported health concern(s): mental problems alone (N=42), physical problems alone (N=118), or comorbid mental-physical problems (N=62). The Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was used to assess mental health symptoms and the Medical Symptoms Check List (MSCL) was used to assess physical health symptoms. ResultsPre-post paired sample t-tests were conducted to assess changes in mental and physical health symptoms. Patients in all three groups reported moderate to large improvements on most SCL-90-R subscales including anxiety, depression and somatization symptoms (Cohen’s d range=0.26-0.87). Significant reductions in the frequency of symptoms on the MSCL were also observed (Cohen’s d range=0.21-0.94). ConclusionsThe 3RP is an effective treatment for improving both mental and physical health symptoms. Results also suggest that patients with comorbid mental-physical health symptoms respond equally well to the 3RP as those presenting with either physical or mental health concerns alone.