Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention to Reduce High Risk Behaviors of People Addicted to Methamphetamine

Abstract

Background: The cognitive behavior model of addiction forms the basis for relapse prevention, an intervention that attempts to describe, understand, prevent, and manage relapse in individuals who have received, or are receiving, treatment for substance use disorders. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) educational interventions to reduce some high-risk behaviors like aggression and craving in people with methamphetamine dependence in Kashan (a city of IR Iran). Patient and Methods: The present research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest- posttest and a control group. Samples concluded 30 males and females with diagnosis of methamphetamine dependence based on DSM-5 criteria and randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control groups each with 15 subjects. Two groups completed the Craving Beliefs questionnaire (CBQ) and Eysenck and Wilson’s Aggression questionnaire. The experimental group received 8 sessions of 1.5 hours, under the preventive training of MBRP and after the completion of the intervention sessions, the variables in the post-test stage were re-measured in two groups. Results: Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance. Results showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in two variables (P < 0.01). MBRP intervention decrease craving and aggression in clients as hard risk behaviors of methamphetamine-dependent individuals. Eta coefficients were 27% for craving and 53% for aggression. Conclusions: Research indicated mindfulness training intervention as MBRP was effective for addicts to amphetamines. This method of prevention helped them increase their ability of coping with temptation and high-risk behaviors as the symptoms of the abortion.