Randomized Trial Comparing Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention with Relapse Prevention for Women Offenders at a Residential Addiction Treatment Center

Abstract

Reincarceration rates are high among substance-involved criminal offenders. This study (conducted during 2010–2011 in an urban area and funded by a Washington State University-Vancouver mini-grant) used a randomized design to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) as compared to relapse prevention (RP), as part of a residential addictions treatment program for women referred by the criminal-justice system (N = 105). At 15-week follow up, regression analyses found women in MBRP, compared to RP, reported significantly fewer drug use days and fewer legal and medical problems. Study limitations and future research directions for studying the efficacy of MBRP are discussed.

Keywords :

• substance use disorders
• addiction
• mindfulness
• criminal justice
• relapse prevention

THE AUTHORS

Katie Witkiewitz, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and a Scientist at the Center on Alcoholism Substance Abuse and Addictions at the University of New Mexico. Her research has been largely centered on studying the process of addictive behavior relapse and empirically supported treatments for addiction. These efforts have led to several empirical investigations on the mechanisms of successful addiction treatment outcomes, as well as the development of interventions to prevent addictive behavior relapse, including mindfulness-based relapse prevention and group-based relapse prevention interventions.

Kaitlin Warner, BS, is currently pursuing graduate studies in psychology and nutrition with the goal of uniting both disciplines in the clinical treatment of adolescents with cognitive disorders. Her research interests include biopsychological etiologies of mood disorders, multidisciplinary treatments of autism spectrum disorders, and meditative techniques as management of anxiety and mood disorders.

Betsy Sully, BS, is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington, Tacoma. Her areas of research and professional interests include: harm reduction, relapse prevention, etiology of and evidence-based treatments for co-occurring disorders.

Adria Barricks, BS, is currently working with adolescents who have a dual diagnosis of substance use and mental health disorders and plans on expanding within this line of work by pursuing a Master of Social Work.

Connie Stauffer, BS, is a language arts Teacher and founder of Back to Basics Academic Coaching a tutoring service that helps children succeed academically. She is currently working to standardize the teaching methodology and pedagogy in order to transform Back to Basics into a research-based learning center.

Brian Thompson, PhD, is a licensed psychologist at the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center. His research interests include mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments, and how these interventions can be incorporated into newer models of exposure therapy.

Jason Luoma, PhD, is Director of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center, in Portland, OR, USA. His research focuses on developing interventions for stigma and shame and the dissemination and training of evidence-based therapies.

Notes

1 The IRR can be interpreted as percentage increase (above 1.0) or decrease (below 1.0) in outcome for a one unit increase in the predictor (with other predictors in the model held constant). If the 95% confidence interval of the IRR contains 1.0, then the IRR is not statistically significant at p < 0.05.