Anxiety, Depression
Conditions
Keywords
mental health, mindfulness, shame
Brief summary
Living with symptoms of mental illness is associated with psychosocial impairment as it can affect someone's ability to work, their relationships and level of functioning. This also has high economic costs on a societal level. It has been shown that an increase in self-compassion may result in a secondary benefit of reducing psychological distress, which could offer substantial benefits. There is little empirical data on Emotion Focused Mindfulness (EFM) interventions for the population we are studying. This study aims to address this gap in the literature and practice, thus advancing the field.
Detailed description
Study Design The proposed study is a non-controlled, open-label, repeated measures intervention study. It is a two year feasibility study. Procedure: Recruitment Participants will be recruited through the Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team. Patients who experience symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, may be referred by any member of the family health team, self-referrals through the family health team will also be accepted. Patients will be screened for eligibility for the EFM Group by the group facilitators. Patients may participate in the EFM group and refuse to participate in the research study. When patients agree to participate in the group intervention, patients will then be asked about interest in participating in this research. Group facilitators will provide details about the study. Interested patients are given the consent form to review. The group facilitator leaves the room and the research associate will then come into the room to obtain written consent. Intervention The group will run for 8-weeks. Each group session is 2 and a half hours. Half way through the intervention there will be a 5 hour retreat on the weekend. A typical group format includes 20-40 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 minutes of independent journaling. Then group members will have time to report on recollections from meditation and facilitators will provide feedback. There is a break and the second part of the group focuses on a didactic teaching topic. Topics change each week. EFM groups will run between September 2016 and June 2018.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEmotion-focused mindfulness group
Intervention The group will run for 8-weeks. Each group session is 2 and a half hours. Half way through the intervention there will be a 5 hour retreat on the weekend. A typical group format includes 20-40 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 minutes of independent journaling. Then group members will have time to report on recollections from meditation and facilitators will provide feedback. There is a break and the second part of the group focuses on a didactic teaching topic. Topics change each week; groups will run between October 2016 and June 2018.
Sponsors
Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada
University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Must be patient of Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team * Adults over the age of 18 years * Symptoms of depression and anxiety as identified by the patient and/or family physician * Sufficient English language skills to participate in the group (based on assessment of group facilitators) * Committed and willing to engage in the group work, such as listening to others, speaking in front of others (based on assessment of group facilitators)
Exclusion criteria
(each based on assessment by group facilitators) * Active suicidality * Severe depression * Possible alcohol abuse * High tendency to dissociate * Personality style that may disrupt group formation processes, participation in interpersonal group processes, and/or developing a meditation practice
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to assess change between baseline, midpoint, group completion and 2 months post group. | Weeks 1, 4, 8 and 2 months post group completion | 26 question self-administered questionnaire |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) to assess change between baseline, midpoint, group completion and 2 months post group. | Weeks 1, 4, 8 and 2 months post group completion | 20 item self-report measure of positive and negative affect |
| Patient Health Questionnaire - Somatic Anxiety Depression Scale (PHQ-SADS) to assess change between baseline, midpoint, group completion and 2 months post group. | Weeks 1, 4, 8 and 2 months post group completion | Self-report scales that include the 9 questions for assessing depression; 7 questions for assessing general anxiety; and 15 questions for assessing somatic symptoms |
| Internalized Shame Scale to assess change between baseline, midpoint, group completion and 2 months post group. | Weeks 1, 4, 8 and 2 months post group completion | 30 item self-report scale that measures the phenomenology of the shame experience |
| World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) to assess change between baseline, midpoint, group completion and 2 months post group. | Weeks 1, 4, 8 and 2 months post group completion | 12 item generic assessment instrument for health and disability |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed