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. 2020 Sep-Dec;20(3):192-199.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2020.07.002. Epub 2020 Jul 28.

Does mindfulness improve inhibitory control in psychotic disorders? A randomized controlled clinical trial

Emilio López-Navarro  1 , Cristina Del Canto  2 , Antoni Mayol  3 , Ovidio Fernández-Alonso  3 , Josep Reig  1 , Enric Munar  1
Affiliations

Does mindfulness improve inhibitory control in psychotic disorders? A randomized controlled clinical trial

Emilio López-Navarro et al. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2020 Sep-Dec.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background/Objective: Impaired Inhibitory Control (IC) is a core feature of psychotic disorders and is related with impaired social functioning in people experiencing psychosis. Despite research showing the benefits of mindfulness over IC in the general population, no study has assessed its effects on IC in psychoses. The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention combined with integrated rehabilitation treatment in a sample of people diagnosed of psychotic disorders. Method: Fifty-six patients diagnosed with psychotic disorder were recruited and randomly allocated either to integrated rehabilitation treatment or integrated rehabilitation treatment enhanced with 26 mindfulness group sessions. Measures comprised PANSS interview, MAAS scale, and Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT). The primary outcome variable was the performance in the non-congruent trials of the SCWT. Results: There were no differences between groups at baseline. At post-treatment patients allocated to mindfulness group increased their scores in non-congruent trials of SCWT and in MAAS. At post-treatment mindfulness group scored higher than integrated rehabilitation treatment in MAAS. Conclusions: Data suggest that mindfulness added to integrated rehabilitation treatment may improve IC in psychosis. Results are convergent with prior works about the effect of mindfulness over cognitive performance in general population.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: Los déficits en el control inhibitorio (CI) son una característica central en trastornos psicóticos y se relaciona con funcionamiento social deteriorado en personas con síntomas psicóticos. A pesar de las investigaciones que muestran los beneficios del mindfulness sobre el CI, ningún estudio ha evaluado sus efectos en las psicosis. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la eficacia de una intervención basada en mindfulness combinada con tratamiento rehabilitador integrado en una muestra de personas diagnosticadas con trastorno psicótico. Método: Cincuenta y seis pacientes diagnosticados con trastorno psicótico fueron reclutados y asignados aleatoriamente a tratamiento rehabilitador integrado o a tratamiento rehabilitador integrado mejorado con 26 sesiones grupales de mindfulness. Las medidas fueron la entrevista PANSS, la escala MAAS, y el Test Stroop de Palabras y Colores (TSPC). La variable resultado principal fue el rendimiento en los ensayos no congruentes del TSPC. Resultados: No hubo diferencias entre grupos antes del tratamiento. En el postratamiento los pacientes del grupo de mindfulness incrementaron sus puntuaciones en TSPC y en MAAS. El grupo de mindfulness puntuó más alto que el de tratamiento rehabilitador integrado en MAAS. Conclusiones: El mindfulness añadido al tratamiento rehabilitador integrado puede mejorar el CI en las psicosis. Los resultados son convergentes con los trabajos previos sobre el efecto del mindfulness en la población general.

Keywords: Cognitive remediation; Experiment; Inhibitory control; Mindfulness; Psychosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CONSORT flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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