A randomised controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction programme for substance abuse patients in deaddiction centre

Abstract

This study aimed to see whether a stress reduction programme based on mindfulness could reduce stress in substance-dependence patients. A randomised control design was used. At the addiction centre, 100 drug addicts were receiving treatment. Using a simple random sampling method, samples are split into 50 experimental drug abuse patient groups and 50 control drug abuse patient groups. Perceived stress scale (PSS) is used to assess the pre-test stress used to analyse the results. The mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program spanned 8 weeks and catered to a maximum of 25 participants. Each day, two sessions lasting 1 h each were conducted. At the end of the programme, the PSS would be completed once more to assess post-test perceived stress levels and compare them to the outcomes. The mean values for the control pre-test, experimental pre-test, control post-test and experimental post-test are 36.9, 36.0, 33.4 and 18.9, respectively. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the groups (control and experimental), the tests (pre-test and post-test) and the interaction between the group and test (P < 0.001, < 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). The control group’s pre-test and post-test did not demonstrate significance (P = 0.265). Conversely, the experimental group exhibited a significant decrease in PSS Score from the pre-test to the post-test (P < 0.001). This shows that the intervention is beneficial in decreasing the PSS score of the participants. Individuals receiving treatment at the addiction facility may discover that MBSR proves to be an efficient approach for alleviating stress.