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
. 2017 Jul;9(3):156-165.

Comparing Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention with Treatment as Usual on Impulsivity and Relapse for Methadone-Treated Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Mehdi Yaghubi  1 , Fatemeh Zargar  2 , Hossein Akbari  3
Affiliations

Comparing Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention with Treatment as Usual on Impulsivity and Relapse for Methadone-Treated Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Mehdi Yaghubi et al. Addict Health. 2017 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Impulsivity is one of the causes of relapse that can affect treatment outcomes. Studies have shown that addiction treatments can reduce impulsivity in drug-dependent individuals. Studies also have suggested that mindfulness is associated with impulsivity. However, no study has investigated the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based intervention on impulsivity in opioid-dependent individuals. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) with treatment as usual (TAU) in terms of impulsivity and relapse for methadone-treated patients.

Methods: The present randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in Kashan, Iran, in 2015. The study population was opioid-dependent patients referred to Maintenance Treatment Centers. Seventy patients were selected by random sampling and were assigned in two groups (MBRP and TAU) randomly. The participants of two groups filled out Barratt impulsivity scale (BIS-11) as a pre-test and 8 weeks later as post-test and 2 months later as a follow-up. Both groups received methadone-therapy. The MBRP group received 8 sessions of group therapy, while the control group did not receive any group psychotherapy session. Finally, data from 60 patients were analyzed statistically.

Findings: The MBRP group had decreased impulsivity significantly (P < 0.001). The mean impulsivity score was 74.76 ± 4.72 before intervention that was significantly decreased to 57.66 ± 3.73 and 58.86 ± 3.57 after the intervention and follow-up (P < 0.001), respectively. In addition, significant differences were observed between MBRP and TAU groups for relapse frequency (P < 0.050).

Conclusion: This study showed that MBRP compared to TAU can decrease the mean impulsivity score in opioid-dependent and reduce relapse probability. These findings suggest that MBRP is useful for opioid-dependent individuals with high-level impulsivity, and relapse prevention.

Keywords: Impulsivity; Mindfulness; Relapse.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The CONSORT flow diagram of study MBRP: Mindfulness-based relapse prevention; TAU: Treatment as usual
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in impulsivity mean score in treatment as usual (TAU) and mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alaghemandan H, Ghaffari Darab M, Khorasani E, Namazi E, Maniyan MH, Barati M. Personality traits and their relationship to demographic features in addicts referring to a drug rehabilitation center in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Iran J Public Health. 2015;44(4):551–60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Naserbakht M, Djalalinia S, Tayefi B, Gholami M, Eftekhar Ardabili M, Shariat SV, et al. National and sub-national prevalence, trend, and burden of mental disorders and substance abuse in Iran: 1. Arch Iran Med. 2014;17(3):182–8. - PubMed
    1. Karajibani M, Montazerifar F, Shakiba M. Evaluation of nutritional status in drug users referred to the center of drug dependency treatment in Zahedan. High Risk Behav Addict. 2012;1(1):18–21.
    1. McLellan AT, McKay JR, Forman R, Cacciola J, Kemp J. Reconsidering the evaluation of addiction treatment: From retrospective follow-up to concurrent recovery monitoring. Addiction. 2005;100(4):447–58. - PubMed
    1. Blume AW. Treating drug problems. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; 2005.

LinkOut - more resources