Linguistic analysis to assess the effect of a mindfulness intervention on self-change for adults in substance use recovery.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether a Mindfulness-based TC (MBTC) intervention could reduce stress and improve self-change, potentially impacting treatment retention in substance abuse patients.
Results Summary
The MBTC group used fewer negative emotion words than the control group, and both groups showed decreased negative emotion and anxiety word-use alongside increased positive emotion word-use over time. However, sustained self-change required continued mindfulness practice beyond the guided intervention.
Population
Substance abuse patients in therapeutic community (TC) treatment programs (140 in control, 253 in MBTC group).
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
9 months
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mindfulness-based TC (MBTC) intervention | no change | feeling and thinking word-use in written stories of stress | TC residents | - | showed no differences | #1 |
Mindfulness-based TC (MBTC) intervention | decrease | negative emotion words | TC residents in a MBTC intervention group | - | used fewer | #2 |
- | decrease | negative emotion word-use | both groups | - | decreased | #3 |
- | decrease | anxiety word-use | both groups | - | decreased | #4 |
- | increase | positive emotion word-use | both groups | - | increased | #5 |
Substance use is a pervasive health problem. Therapeutic community (TC) is an established substance abuse treatment but TC environments are stressful and dropout rates are high. Mindfulness-based TC (MBTC) intervention was developed to address TC stress and support self-change that could impact treatment retention. Self-change was assessed through feeling and thinking word-use in written stories of stress from 140 TC residents in a historical control group and 253 TC residents in a MBTC intervention group. Data were collected 5 times over a 9-month period. Linguistic analysis showed no differences between the groups over time; however, over all time points, the MBTC intervention group used fewer negative emotion words than the TC control group. Also, negative emotion (P < .01) and anxiety (P < .01) word-use decreased whereas positive emotion word-use increased (P < .05) over time in both groups. Descriptive data from linguistic analyses indicated that sustained self-change demands participation in mindfulness behaviors beyond the instructor-guided MBTC intervention.