Attentional control may be modifiable with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide

TY - JOUR

T1 - Attentional control may be modifiable with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide

AU - Chesin, Megan S.

AU - Keilp, John G.

AU - Kline, Anna

AU - Stanley, Barbara

AU - Myers, Catherine

AU - Latorre, Miriam

AU - St. Hill, Lauren M.

AU - Miller, Rachael B.

AU - King, Arlene R.

AU - Boschulte, Dianna R.

AU - Rodriguez, Kailyn M.

AU - Callahan, Michael

AU - Sedita, Megan

AU - Interian, Alejandro

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service ( IIR 12-134 ). This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA New Jersey Healthcare System. The contents of this article do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Publisher Copyright: © 2021

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - Objective: To test whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) is associated with improvement in attentional control, an objective marker of suicide attempt. Method: In the context of a randomized clinical trial targeting suicide risk in Veterans, computerized Stroop and emotion Stroop (E-Stroop) tasks were administered 3 times over 6-months follow-up to 135 high suicide risk Veterans. Seventy were randomized to receive MBCT-S in addition to enhanced treatment as usual (eTAU), and 65 were randomized to eTAU only. E-Stroop word types included positively- and negatively-valenced emotion, suicide, and combat-related words. Interference scores and mixed effects linear regression analyses were used. Results: Veterans receiving MBCT-S showed a more favorable trajectory of attentional control over time, as indicated by performance on two E-Stroop tasks. Combat-stress interference scores improved over time among Veterans in MBCT-S. Interference processing time for negative affective words deteriorated over time among Veterans receiving eTAU only. Conclusions: MBCT-S may effectively target attentional control, and in particular reduce processing time during affective interference, in high suicide risk Veterans. Future studies to replicate these findings are warranted.

AB - Objective: To test whether Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Prevent Suicide (MBCT-S) is associated with improvement in attentional control, an objective marker of suicide attempt. Method: In the context of a randomized clinical trial targeting suicide risk in Veterans, computerized Stroop and emotion Stroop (E-Stroop) tasks were administered 3 times over 6-months follow-up to 135 high suicide risk Veterans. Seventy were randomized to receive MBCT-S in addition to enhanced treatment as usual (eTAU), and 65 were randomized to eTAU only. E-Stroop word types included positively- and negatively-valenced emotion, suicide, and combat-related words. Interference scores and mixed effects linear regression analyses were used. Results: Veterans receiving MBCT-S showed a more favorable trajectory of attentional control over time, as indicated by performance on two E-Stroop tasks. Combat-stress interference scores improved over time among Veterans in MBCT-S. Interference processing time for negative affective words deteriorated over time among Veterans receiving eTAU only. Conclusions: MBCT-S may effectively target attentional control, and in particular reduce processing time during affective interference, in high suicide risk Veterans. Future studies to replicate these findings are warranted.

KW - Attentional control

KW - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

KW - Suicide risk

KW - Veterans

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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103988

DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103988

M3 - Article

C2 - 34700258

VL - 147

JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy

JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy

SN - 0005-7967

M1 - 103988

ER -