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
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Dec;83(6):1013-20.
doi: 10.1037/ccp0000027. Epub 2015 Aug 24.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) reduces the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal cognitions in patients with a history of suicidal depression

Thorsten Barnhofer  1 , Catherine Crane  1 , Kate Brennan  1 , Danielle S Duggan  1 , Rebecca S Crane  2 , Catrin Eames  2 , Sholto Radford  2 , Sarah Silverton  2 , Melanie J V Fennell  1 , J Mark G Williams  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) reduces the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal cognitions in patients with a history of suicidal depression

Thorsten Barnhofer et al. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: In patients with a history of suicidal depression, recurrence of depressive symptoms can easily reactivate suicidal thinking. In this study, we investigated whether training in mindfulness, which is aimed at helping patients "decenter" from negative thinking, could help weaken the link between depressive symptoms and suicidal cognitions.

Method: Analyses were based on data from a recent randomized controlled trial, in which previously suicidal patients were allocated to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), an active control treatment, cognitive psychoeducation (CPE), which did not include any meditation practice, or treatment as usual (TAU). After the end of the treatment phase, we compared the associations between depressive symptoms, as assessed through self-reports on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), and suicidal thinking, as assessed through the Suicidal Cognitions Scale (Rudd et al., 2001).

Results: In patients with minimal to moderate symptoms at the time of assessment, comparisons of the correlations between depressive symptoms and suicidal cognitions showed significant differences between the groups. Although suicidal cognitions were significantly related to levels of symptoms in the 2 control groups, there was no such relation in the MBCT group.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that, in patients with a history of suicidal depression, training in mindfulness can help to weaken the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal thinking, and thus reduce an important vulnerability for relapse to suicidal depression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatterplot and regression lines of Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) (Beck et al., 1996) and Suicidal Cognitions Scale (SCS) scores (Rudd et al., 2001) by group at posttreatment. The top panel shows scores of all participants with past suicidality (MBCT: n = 77, CPE: n = 78, TAU: n = 39). The bottom panel shows scores and regression lines in groups of participants with BDI-II ≥ 3 and ≤ 28 (MBCT: n = 52, CPE: n = 53, TAU: n = 26). MBCT = mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; CPE = cognitive psychoeducation; TAU = treatment as usual.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
    1. Beck A. T. (1996). Beyond belief: A theory of modes, personality, and psychopathology In Salkovskis P. M. (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy (pp. 1–25). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
    1. Beck A. T., Steer R. A., & Brown G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory–II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
    1. Bieling P. J., Hawley L. L., Bloch R. T., Corcoran K. M., Levitan R. D., Young L. T., et al. Segal Z. V. (2012). Treatment-specific changes in decentering following mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus antidepressant medication or placebo for prevention of depressive relapse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 365–372. 10.1037/a0027483 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bryan C. J., Rudd M. D., Wertenberger E., Etienne N., Ray-Sannerud B. N., Morrow C. E., et al. Young-McCaughon S. (2014). Improving the detection and prediction of suicidal behavior among military personnel by measuring suicidal beliefs: An evaluation of the Suicide Cognitions Scale. Journal of Affective Disorders, 159, 15–22. 10.1016/j.jad.2014.02.021 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data