Mindfulness Meditation for Health

Relapse prevention is one of the most challenging issues in the treatment of alcohol
dependence and calls for the development of new therapeutic modalities. Mindfulness
meditation (meditation), a popular mind-body therapy, is a promising treatment for substance
use disorders (SUDs). However, there have been no published rigorous studies evaluating the
effects of meditation in alcohol dependence.

This unblinded, 2-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) will test whether the Mindfulness
Meditation Relapse Prevention (meditation), combined with 'standard of care' (SOC) therapy,
is more effective in preventing a return to drinking than SOC alone (wait-list control)
among adult recovering alcoholics. The intervention is manualized and based on existing
models. For this study, 112 adult alcohol dependent subjects will be recruited from
collaborating treatment centers, randomly assigned to one of two equal study arms, and
followed for 52-weeks. This RCT will evaluate the efficacy of the meditation intervention
using self-reported alcohol consumption as primary, and drinking-related harms and subject
treatment satisfaction and adherence as secondary outcomes. It will also gather preliminary
data on potential mechanisms of meditation action. It is proposed that meditation may
improve outcomes of interest through reduction of the severity of stress-related relapse
risk factors such as perceived stress, anxiety, depression, craving and emotion
dysregulation, and the level of stress-sensitive biomarkers (cytokine interleukin-6, liver
enzymes).

The proposed study will provide rigorous evidence about the efficacy of meditation for
alcohol relapse prevention, will further our understanding of relapse and the potential
mechanisms of meditation action, direct future research and guide clinical decision-making.