Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry

Objectives : We aimed to examine whether mindfulness skills are mediating the improvements of depressive symptoms in patients with mood disorders who practiced Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).

Methods : A total of 19 patients with mood disorder were included in this study. The participants were divided into two subgroups: a normal to mild depression group and a moderate depression group. The participants completed questionnaires to assess depressive symptoms, anxiety, quality of life, suicidal idea, and mindfulness skills which were measured by the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) before and after MBCT course.

Results : The moderate depression group showed improvements through MBCT in depressive symptoms and suicidal idea, but not in anxiety and quality of life. The normal to mild depression group showed no significant change through MBCT. The improvement of depressive symptoms in the moderate depression group was predictable by improvements of the five facets of mindfulness, especially by 'observe' and 'non-react' components.

Conclusions : This study showed that currently depressive patients with moderate severity but not with normal to mild severity benefit from MBCT in reducing depressive symptoms and suicidal idea. The improvement of depressive symptoms was mediated by improved mindfulness skills through MBCT.

Keywords Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy;Mindfulness;Five facets of mindfulness;Mood disorder.