Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in an interdisciplinary rehabilitation setting: effects on depression, anxiety, and hopelessness

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has strong empirical support for preventing relapse in recurrent depression. This study aimed to evaluate whether adding MBCT as a follow-up intervention after an outpatient interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme benefits individuals with current moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms as well as those with minimal depressive symptoms at the start of MBCT. A total of 130 patients who had completed a 6-week interdisciplinary rehabilitation programme for depression and/or anxiety disorders participated in an 8-week MBCT course. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), anxiety symptoms using the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and hopelessness using the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Participants with mild depressive symptoms at baseline were not included in the subgroup analyses. Patients with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms (BDI-II score ≥ 20) at the start of MBCT showed significant reductions in depression (ES = 0.73), anxiety (ES = 0.41), and hopelessness (ES = 0.48) by the end of the 8-week treatment. However, patients with minimal depressive symptoms (BDI-II score ≤ 13) showed a slight increase in depressive symptoms (ES = − 0.44), while changes in anxiety and hopelessness were not statistically significant. MBCT may provide additional benefits as a follow-up intervention after interdisciplinary rehabilitation, particularly for patients with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms at the start of treatment.