A long-term pilot study of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for subjective well-being among healthy individuals in comparison with clinical samples

Abstract

Purpose: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) could be an intervention for improving subjective well-being among healthy individuals (HIs). However, MBCT studies for HIs to improve their subjective well-being are rare. The aim of this study was to report the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of MBCT for HIs in comparison with clinical samples. Patients and Methods: We conducted a single-arm, pre-post comparison pilot study offering MBCT to both HIs and people with common mental disorders. Twenty-four participants in total were included in the study. Eight weekly two-hour sessions with six monthly boosters were offered to all participants. Assessment was carried out at baseline, week 4, 8, and during follow-up. The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) was the primary clinical outcome measure. Results: The results showed the MBCT is sufficiently safe and would be more feasible in HIs compared to in clinical samples (attendance rate: 81.5% vs 61.3%, p=0.06). Although Satisfaction with Life Scale, the other scale of subjective well-being used, improved significantly at week 20 (p=0.01), no significant improvement was seen in WHO-5. The results of the sub-group analysis revealed WHO-5 improved significantly at week 8 and 32 among the subjects whose baseline scores began in the lower half. Conclusion: MBCT is sufficiently safe and would be more feasible with HIs compared to the clinical samples. In designing randomized controlled trials, selecting HIs with lower subjective well-being would be reasonable to minimize the “ceiling effect” on outcomes.