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Changes in Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation in an Exposure-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression

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Abstract

With the mounting evidence for mindfulness training as a promising strategy for distress reduction across clinical and nonclinical populations, it is important to learn more about the kinds of changes associated with this training. In an exposure-based cognitive therapy for depression that includes mindfulness training, participants reported significant increases in mindfulness over the course of therapy. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that change in mindfulness was associated with a linear decrease in depression on self-report and clinical interview measures over the course of therapy. Increases in mindfulness were significantly correlated with reductions in avoidance and rumination, two emotion regulation strategies that are conceptual opposites of mindfulness.

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Acknowledgment

This project was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R21 MH62662 and by a University of Miami Provost Award to the third author. We thank William Galyardt, David Greenawalt, Melanie Harris, Jose Sandoval, Jamie Lewis Smith, Jennifer Strauss, Jeff Greeson, and Barbara Wolfsdorf, and our research and therapist teams. We also thank all of the participants in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA

    Sameet Kumar

  2. Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA

    Greg Feldman

  3. University of Delaware, 108 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE, 19716-2577, USA

    Adele Hayes

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  1. Sameet Kumar
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  2. Greg Feldman
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  3. Adele Hayes
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Correspondence to Adele Hayes.

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Kumar, S., Feldman, G. & Hayes, A. Changes in Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation in an Exposure-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. Cogn Ther Res 32, 734–744 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-008-9190-1

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