A preliminary single-group pre-post evaluation of mind-shift-mentoring for depression, anxiety, stress, and cognitive flexibility in Indian adults

Background Psychoeducational therapies are important because of their crucial role in improving treatment outcomes for a wide array of diagnoses. Mind-shift-mentoring (MSM) is a psychoeducational structured program integrated with physical health components that was designed and tested in Indian adults. This study describes a preliminary evaluation of single-group pre-post changes associated with the program. Aim To evaluate pre-post changes associated with Mind-Shift-Mentoring (MSM) in depression, anxiety, stress and cognitive flexibility in Indian adults. Methods A single-group pre-post evaluation was conducted among 61 adults who completed baseline and post-MSM assessments using the DASS-21 and CFI, with 41 participants also completing a four-month follow-up. Outcomes were analyzed using paired-samples t -test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test as appropriate, associations were examined using Spearman's rho and Kendall's tau. Follow-up cognitive flexibility was assessed using the Friedman test. Results MSM was associated with significant reductions in DASS-21 scores and improvements in cognitive flexibility. Among participants who completed follow-up, cognitive flexibility remained higher than baseline at four months, while post-MSM and follow-up CFI scores did not differ significantly. Participant feedback suggested that the program was acceptable and was perceived to reduce anxiety and stress. Conclusion MSM was found to be associated with improvement in depression anxiety, stress and cognitive flexibility. However, given the single-group pre-post test design, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Controlled studies are needed to confirm these results and assess generalizability.