Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Aug;31(6):1032-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.05.002. Epub 2011 May 15.

The effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of relapse in recurrent major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jacob Piet  1 , Esben Hougaard
Affiliations
Review

The effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of relapse in recurrent major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Jacob Piet et al. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group-based clinical intervention program designed to reduce relapse or recurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) by means of systematic training in mindfulness meditation combined with cognitive-behavioral methods.

Objective: By means of a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of MBCT for prevention of relapse or recurrence among patients with recurrent MDD in remission.

Method: Electronic databases were searched and researchers were contacted for further relevant studies. Studies were coded for quality. Meta-analyses were performed by means of the Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager 5.1.

Results: Six randomized controlled trials with a total of 593 participants were included in the meta-analysis. MBCT significantly reduced the risk of relapse/recurrence with a risk ratio of 0.66 for MBCT compared to treatment as usual or placebo controls, corresponding to a relative risk reduction of 34%. In a pre-planned subgroup analysis the relative risk reduction was 43% for participants with three or more previous episodes, while no risk reduction was found for participants with only two episodes. In two studies, MBCT was at least as effective as maintenance antidepressant medication.

Conclusion: Results of this meta-analysis indicate that MBCT is an effective intervention for relapse prevention in patients with recurrent MDD in remission, at least in case of three or more previous MDD episodes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources