Comparison of the Effectiveness Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Treatment as Usual on Depression and Additional Symptoms and Other Psychiatric Symptoms

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Treatment As Usual (TAU) on depression and additional symptoms and other psychiatric symptoms in a sample of remitted depressed patients. In this study an experimental design with pre test-post test and three experimental groups were used. The experimental groups were MCBT (n=134), CBT (n=121) and TAU (n=96). Patients were assessed through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID) to ensure that they were in remission phase from their most recent index episode of major depression. Patients were assigned into one of three groups and assessed repeatedly through self-report measures including Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The effect size of MBCT and CBT were equal and indicate high effect of treatment for intervention groups. The overall pattern of results indicated that both active treatments were similar to each other, but more effective at post test, 6 months follow-up and one–year follow-up compared with TAU. However, there were no significant differences between two groups according to ANCOVA. These results suggest that there are some more benefits for MBCT and CBT on reducing depression and additional psychiatric symptoms.