The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy in Controlling under Treatment Addicts’ Drug Cravings

Bahram Iranshahri¹, Hossein Jenaabadi^2*

¹MA. Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.
²Department of Education, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmp.2015.43009                

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy in controlling under treatment addicts’ drug cravings. This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest and posttest. The sample of this study included 30 under treatment male addicts whom were selected through applying random sampling method and were placed in two groups, experimental and control. After holding a preliminary session aiming at aiding the experimental group to become familiar with the procedure, 8 sessions of the mindfulness-based therapy were administered. Assessment tools were Craving Beliefs Questionnaire (CBQ) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). After calculating mean and standard deviation, the obtained data were analyzed using covariance. The results indicated that the mindfulness therapy was significantly effective in controlling drug cravings, decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression of under treatment addicts (p < 0.05).

Keywords

Mindfulness-Based Stress Management Treatment, Drug Cravings, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Addiction

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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