Mindfulness Intervention for Child Abuse Survivors: A 2.5-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

Objective: The present study reports on the long-term effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Method: Of the study participants, 73% returned to the clinic for a single-session follow-up assessment of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and mindfulness at 2.5 years. Results: Repeated measures mixed regression analyses revealed significant long-term improvements in depression, PTSD, anxiety symptoms, and mindfulness scores. The magnitude of intervention effects at 128 weeks ranged from d = .5 to d = 1.1. Conclusion: MBSR may be an effective long-term treatment for adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. Further investigation of MBSR with this population is warranted given the durability of treatment effects described here. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Clin. Psychol. 00:1-9, 2014.

Mindfulness-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of the treatment literature and neurobiological evidence

“…Another study investigating treatment with MBSR modified to emphasize safety and positive growth experiences found particularly large reductions on self-reported PTSD avoidance/numbing symptoms and re-experiencing, hyperarousal, depression and anxiety symptoms among women with PTSD as a result of childhood sexual abuse. 134 These gains were maintained 2.5 years later, 130 showing the potential long-term utility of MBSR. Moreover, these studies reported low drop-out rates (10%-16%), suggesting high treatment acceptability.…”

“…Additionally, several single-arm uncontrolled trials reported significant improvements in PTSD and related symptomatology following MBSR treatment among veterans 129,132 and victims of interpersonal or developmental trauma. 131,134,139 Importantly, across these studies, treatment gains were largely maintained at follow-up ranging from 1 month to 2.5 years 129,130,132,134,138,139 (but see the studies by Kearney and colleagues 133 and Niles and colleagues 137 ). Critically, the study by Niles and colleagues, 137 which did not report maintained improvement at follow-up, used a telehealth approach, suggesting that more intensive, inperson treatment may be necessary to maintain treatment gains.…”

“…[129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139] In a recent pilot study Cole and colleagues 129 investigated standard MBSR as a treatment for both PTSD symptoms and attention difficulties among veterans with PTSD and a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), reporting low drop-out rates (10%), significant reductions in self-reported PTSD symptoms and significant improvements on attention measures posttreatment. In that study, PTSD symptom reduction was maintained at 3-month follow-up, although attention improvements were not.…”

“…[130][131][132]134 Goldsmith and colleagues 131 reported significant improvements following a course of standard MBSR at midtreatment and posttreatment on self-report measures of PTSD, depressive symptoms and shame-based trauma appraisals among individuals with PTSD of mixed etiology. Similarly, Kearney and colleagues 132 reported significant improvements immediately posttreatment and at follow-up following standard MBSR on PTSD re-experiencing, avoidance, emotional numbing and hyperarousal symptoms and on measures of depression, experiential avoidance and mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among a sample of veterans.…”

Mindfulness as Mediator and Moderator of Post-traumatic Symptomatology in Adolescence Following Childhood Sexual Abuse or Assault

“…Mindfulness-based interventions, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) (A-Tjak et al 2015;Ost 2014), are among those that are rapidly gaining in popularity to help decrease a variety of mental health problems in children and adolescents (Tovote et al 2014;Broderick and Jennings 2012;Cotton et al 2015;Zoogman et al 2015), as well as in children, adolescents and adult survivors of childhood maltreatment (Kimbrough et al 2010;Caldwell and Shaver 2015;Lanktree et al 2012;Mannarino et al 2012). Mindfulness training has been found to help diminish symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sexual dysfunction and general distress in adult women reporting CSA (Earley et al 2014;Kimbrough et al 2010;Brotto et al 2012) and to reduce behavioural, externalized and internalized problems among youth reporting various types of childhood maltreatment (Swart and Apsche 2014).…”