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BACKGROUND:Mindful Mood Balance (MMB) is a Web-based intervention designed to treat residual depressive symptoms and prevent relapse. MMB was designed to deliver the core concepts of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a group treatment, which, despite its strong evidence base, faces a number of dissemination challenges.
OBJECTIVE:
The present study is a qualitative investigation of participants' experiences with MMB.
METHODS:
Qualitative content analysis was conducted via 38 exit interviews with MMB participants. Study inclusion required a current PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire) score ≤12 and lifetime history ≥1 major depressive episode. Feedback was obtained on specific website components, program content, and administration as well as skills learned.
RESULTS:
Codes were assigned to interview responses and organized into four main themes: MBCT Web content, MBCT Web-based group process, home practice, and evidence of concept comprehension. Within these four areas, participants highlighted the advantages and obstacles of translating and delivering MBCT in a Web-based format. Adding increased support was suggested for troubleshooting session content as well as managing time challenges for completing home mindfulness practice. Participants endorsed developing affect regulation skills and identified several advantages to Web-based delivery including flexibility, reduced cost, and time commitment.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings support the viability of providing MBCT online and are consistent with prior qualitative accounts derived from in-person MBCT groups. While there is certainly room for innovation in the domains of program support and engagement, the high levels of participant satisfaction indicated that MMB can significantly increase access to evidence-based psychological treatments for sub-threshold symptoms of unipolar affective disorder.
BACKGROUND:Mindful Mood Balance (MMB) is a Web-based intervention designed to treat residual depressive symptoms and prevent relapse. MMB was designed to deliver the core concepts of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a group treatment, which, despite its strong evidence base, faces a number of dissemination challenges.
OBJECTIVE:
The present study is a qualitative investigation of participants' experiences with MMB.
METHODS:
Qualitative content analysis was conducted via 38 exit interviews with MMB participants. Study inclusion required a current PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire) score ≤12 and lifetime history ≥1 major depressive episode. Feedback was obtained on specific website components, program content, and administration as well as skills learned.
RESULTS:
Codes were assigned to interview responses and organized into four main themes: MBCT Web content, MBCT Web-based group process, home practice, and evidence of concept comprehension. Within these four areas, participants highlighted the advantages and obstacles of translating and delivering MBCT in a Web-based format. Adding increased support was suggested for troubleshooting session content as well as managing time challenges for completing home mindfulness practice. Participants endorsed developing affect regulation skills and identified several advantages to Web-based delivery including flexibility, reduced cost, and time commitment.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings support the viability of providing MBCT online and are consistent with prior qualitative accounts derived from in-person MBCT groups. While there is certainly room for innovation in the domains of program support and engagement, the high levels of participant satisfaction indicated that MMB can significantly increase access to evidence-based psychological treatments for sub-threshold symptoms of unipolar affective disorder.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been shown to effectively prevent relapse and reduce residual depressive symptoms (RDS), yet it faces barriers to dissemination. The present study examined Mindful Mood Balance (MMB), the first web-based approach to deliver the core content of MBCT. Of the 107 recurrently depressed individuals screened, 100 elected to enroll in the study and received MMB in an 8-session open trial with 6-month follow-up. Outcomes included depressive symptom severity, rumination and mindful awareness, and program engagement. A quasi-experimental comparison between MMB participants and propensity matched case-controls receiving usual depression care (UDC) (N = 100) also was conducted. The full sample and the subgroup with residual depressive symptoms (N = 42) showed significantly reduced depressive severity, which was sustained over six months, and improvement on rumination and mindfulness. Examination of acceptability of MMB indicated that 42% of participants within the full sample and 36% of the RDS subgroup completed all 8 sessions and 53% within the full sample and 50% within the RDS subgroup completed at least 4 sessions, and that participants engaged with daily mindfulness practice. MMB also was associated with significant reduction in RDS severity as compared to quasi-experimental propensity matched controls. Although the use of a non-randomized design, with potential unmeasured differences between groups, and short interval of clinical follow-up were limitations, findings from this study support the web-based delivery of MBCT and suggest clinical benefits for participants with histories of depression and with RDS, relative to those receiving usual care alone.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been shown to effectively prevent relapse and reduce residual depressive symptoms (RDS), yet it faces barriers to dissemination. The present study examined Mindful Mood Balance (MMB), the first web-based approach to deliver the core content of MBCT. Of the 107 recurrently depressed individuals screened, 100 elected to enroll in the study and received MMB in an 8-session open trial with 6-month follow-up. Outcomes included depressive symptom severity, rumination and mindful awareness, and program engagement. A quasi-experimental comparison between MMB participants and propensity matched case-controls receiving usual depression care (UDC) (N = 100) also was conducted. The full sample and the subgroup with residual depressive symptoms (N = 42) showed significantly reduced depressive severity, which was sustained over six months, and improvement on rumination and mindfulness. Examination of acceptability of MMB indicated that 42% of participants within the full sample and 36% of the RDS subgroup completed all 8 sessions and 53% within the full sample and 50% within the RDS subgroup completed at least 4 sessions, and that participants engaged with daily mindfulness practice. MMB also was associated with significant reduction in RDS severity as compared to quasi-experimental propensity matched controls. Although the use of a non-randomized design, with potential unmeasured differences between groups, and short interval of clinical follow-up were limitations, findings from this study support the web-based delivery of MBCT and suggest clinical benefits for participants with histories of depression and with RDS, relative to those receiving usual care alone.