The Efficacy and Durability of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in the Treatment of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Indian journal of psychological medicine May 1, 2025 Nikapitiye Nandarathana, Jay Kumar Ranjan 17 citations
A meta-analysis of 21 randomized controlled trials involving 1,470 studies reviewed found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) effectively reduces symptoms of both anxiety and depressive disorders. The overall standardized mean difference for anxiety was -0.4806 and for depression was -0.3817, indicating moderate effects. Comparisons between postintervention and follow-up showed small, nonsignificant effect sizes for depression (0.0130) and anxiety (0.0198), suggesting that symptom improvements were maintained over time. MBCT produces durable long-term treatment effects for both depressive and anxiety disorders.