Association of Participation in a Mindfulness Program With Measures ofPTSD, Depression and Quality of Life in a Veteran Sample

To assess outcomes of veterans who participated in mindfulness-based stress reduction(MBSR). Design: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression, functional status,behavioral activation, experiential avoidance, and mindfulness were assessed at baseline, and 2 and 6months after enrollment. Results: At 6 months, there were significant improvements in PTSDsymptoms (standardized effect size, d 5 -0.64, po 0.001); depression (d 5 -0.70, po0.001);behavioral activation (d 5 0.62, po0.001); mental component summary score of the Short Form-8(d 5 0.72, po0.001); acceptance (d 5 0.67, po0.001); and mindfulness (d 5 0.78, po0.001), and47.7% of veterans had clinically significant improvements in PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: MBSRshows promise as an intervention for PTSD and warrants further study in randomized controlled trials.