Attentional control may be modifiable with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) improves attentional control, an objective marker of suicide risk, in high-risk Veterans.
Results Summary
Veterans receiving MBCT-S showed improved attentional control over time, particularly in combat-stress interference, while those receiving only enhanced treatment as usual (eTAU) experienced worsening interference processing for negative affective words.
Population
High suicide-risk Veterans
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
6 months
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) | increase | attentional control | high suicide risk Veterans | - | showed a more favorable trajectory | #1 |
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) | decrease | Combat-stress interference scores | Veterans in MBCT-S | - | improved over time | #2 |
enhanced treatment as usual (eTAU) only | increase | Interference processing time for negative affective words | Veterans receiving eTAU only | - | deteriorated over time | #3 |
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) | increase | attentional control | high suicide risk Veterans | - | may effectively target | #4 |
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) | decrease | processing time during affective interference | high suicide risk Veterans | - | reduce | #5 |
OBJECTIVE: To test whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) is associated with improvement in attentional control, an objective marker of suicide attempt. METHOD: In the context of a randomized clinical trial targeting suicide risk in Veterans, computerized Stroop and emotion Stroop (E-Stroop) tasks were administered 3 times over 6-months follow-up to 135 high suicide risk Veterans. Seventy were randomized to receive MBCT-S in addition to enhanced treatment as usual (eTAU), and 65 were randomized to eTAU only. E-Stroop word types included positively- and negatively-valenced emotion, suicide, and combat-related words. Interference scores and mixed effects linear regression analyses were used. RESULTS: Veterans receiving MBCT-S showed a more favorable trajectory of attentional control over time, as indicated by performance on two E-Stroop tasks. Combat-stress interference scores improved over time among Veterans in MBCT-S. Interference processing time for negative affective words deteriorated over time among Veterans receiving eTAU only. CONCLUSIONS: MBCT-S may effectively target attentional control, and in particular reduce processing time during affective interference, in high suicide risk Veterans. Future studies to replicate these findings are warranted.