Dismantling mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for recurrent depression implicates lack of differential efficacy for mindfulness training

摘要

Risk of relapse among patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder is high (>50% of those recovering from a first episode of depression, and approximately 80% of those with a history of two or more episodes), and this risk increases with each successive depressive episode. Several clinical trials have demonstrated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) significantly reduces relapse risk among patients with three or more prior depressive episodes. Yet, MBCT contains multiple therapeutic elements, and the specific efficacy of the mindfulness training element in MBCT is unknown.