Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

Changes in Stress Reactivity among Stimulant Dependent Adults After Treatment with Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention: Results from a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

¹University of California, Los Angeles, Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, USA

²Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

*Corresponding Author:

Suzette Glasner-Edwards
Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
1640 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suite 120, Los Angeles, Canada
Tel: 310 267-5206
Fax: 310 312-0538
E-mail: sglasner@ucla.edu

Received date: August 17, 2016; Accepted date: October 07, 2016; Published date: October 14, 2016

Citation: Edwards SG, Hartwell EE, Mooney L, Ang A, Garneau HC, et al. (2016) Changes in Stress Reactivity among Stimulant Dependent Adults After Treatment with Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention: Results from a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. J Addict Res Ther 7:298. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.1000298

Copyright: © 2016 Edwards SG, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: In light of recent evidence suggesting the presence of stress processing deficits in stimulant users, coupled with laboratory studies demonstrating an association between stress reactivity and relapse to stimulant use, interventions that target stress-induced craving and stress reactivity may reduce relapse risk in this population.

Objective: This study examines changes in stress reactivity among adults with stimulant use disorders (N=22) in response to an 8 week Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) intervention.

Methods: Study participants were enrolled in a in a pilot randomized clinical trial, evaluating the efficacy of MBRP, relative to a health education control condition (HE). At baseline and treatment-end, biological and subjective responses to a laboratory psychosocial stress task (i.e., the Trier Social Stress Task) were measured.

Results: MBRP participants evidenced significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol in response to the posttreatment laboratory stress provocation, relative to those in the HE condition. Likewise, HE participants evidenced disproportionately greater increases in subjective stress, anxiety and stimulant cravings in response to the posttreatment stress provocation, relative to those who received MBRP.

Conclusion: Results of this pilot investigation suggest that MBRP effectively attenuates stress reactivity among adults with stimulant use disorders. This approach may have utility as an adjunct to comprehensive programs treating stimulant addiction. Future research evaluating the impact of changes in stress reactivity on post-treatment relapse to stimulant use and the long-term effects of MBRP on stress reactivity is warranted.

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