Abstract
MBSR(BC) is known to have a positive impact on psychological and physical symptoms among breast cancer survivors (BCS). The cognitive mechanisms of “how” MBSR(BC) works was addressed in a recent study that found that there was strong consistent evidence that reduced emotional reactivity is a mediator and moderate consistent evidence that mindfulness, rumination, and worry were mediators. The purpose of this study, as part of a larger R01 trial, was to test whether positive effects achieved from the MBSR(BC) program were mediated through changes in increased mindfulness, decreased fear of breast cancer recurrence, and perceived stress. Female BCS > 21 years diagnosed with Stage 0-III breast cancer were randomly assigned to a 6-week MBSR(BC) or a Usual Care (UC)regimen. Potential mediators of 6- and 12-week outcomes were identified by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), followed by formal mediational analyses of main effects of MBSR(BC) on 6- and 12-week outcomes, including percentage of total effects explained. Among 322 BCS (167 MBSR(BC) and 155 UC), fear of recurrence and perceived stress, but not mindfulness, mediated reductions in anxiety and fatigue at weeks 6 and 12, partially supporting our hypothesis of cognitive mechanisms of MBSR(BC).
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Registration Number: NCT01177124 http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov
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Data will be archived in accordance with the NIH Data Sharing Plan, a national data repository.
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This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute (Award Number 1R01 CA131080-01A2). This work also has been supported in part by the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, an NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (P30-CA076292). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. This study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of South Florida to ensure the ethical treatment of participants.
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At orientation for MBSR(BC), BCES, and UC, all participants signed informed consents prior to enrolling in the study. The USF institutional review board at the University of South Florida serves as the University of South Florida's Ethics committee and gave approval, in addition to the Moffitt Cancer Center Scientific Review Committee.
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Data repository: data will be archived in accordance with the NIH Data Sharing Plan, a national data repository.
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Lengacher, C.A., Gruss, L.F., Kip, K.E. et al. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for breast cancer survivors (MBSR(BC)): evaluating mediators of psychological and physical outcomes in a large randomized controlled trial. J Behav Med 44, 591–604 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00214-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00214-0