Effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Among COVID-19 Patients

Background: Depression, stress, and anxiety have a high prevalence among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, and they can diminish psychological health and lead to malfunctions in various aspects of patients. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is considered as one of the effective treatments to improve health-related psychological qualities. Objectives: The current research aimed to determine the effectiveness of the MBCT on depression, stress, and anxiety among people with COVID-19. Methods: The research deployed an experimental design with pre-and post-tests and a control group. The population included all recovered patients with COVID-19 referring to health centers in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2020. Using available random sampling method, 30 patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited and equally randomized into either experimental or control groups. While eight 90-minute MBCT sessions were administered for the experimental group, the control group received no interventions. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-21) was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 23 using multivariate and univariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, and education (P > .05). The results of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that all the three subscales of depression (d = 0/75), stress (d = 0/86), and anxiety (d = 0/82) were significantly reduced in the intervention group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The MBCT is an effective therapeutic way to reduce depressive, stress, and anxious signs of patients with COVID-19. Thus, it is recommended that therapists and experts use this method to promote patients’ mental health.