Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for Urban Youth

Our uncontrolled study of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for urban youth suggests benefits in mental health and quality of life outcomes. To evaluate further the specific effects of MBSR, we are conducting a small randomized controlled trial of the MBSR program compared with a health education program.

A randomized controlled trial will be conducted at two urban clinic sites. HIV-positive youth between the ages of 14 and 22 will be recruited and randomized into either an eight-week (with one retreat session) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course (intervention) or an eight-week (with one retreat session) Healthy Topics (HT) course (active control). Measures of psychological functioning, coping, and life satisfaction will take place at baseline, immediately post-program, and 3-months post program. Medical data, including Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) and viral load counts, will also be collected at the three data collection time points.

8-week health education program with one retreat session - based on a health curriculum developed by McGraw/Hill

8 weekly sessions with instruction designed to enhance mindfulness--mindful meditation, mindful yoga, and discussion of mindfulness practice, with one retreat session.

Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS) - measures mindfulness with total score range of 1 - 6, where higher scores indicate greater mindfulness Children's Response Style Questionnaire(CRSQ) - measures coping mechanisms along three subscales: rumination (range: 0-3), distraction (range: 0-3) and problem-solving (range: 0-3), where higher scores on any of the subscales indicates more frequent use of that type of coping mechanism Aggression scale - uses total score to measure aggression with a range of 0-6, where higher scores indicated more aggressive behavior

assessed at Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 4-6 months follow-up; scores at 4-6 month follow-up reported

Life satisfaction was measured with the HIV Quality of Life (QOL) measure, which included three subscales: life satisfaction (range: 1-5), illness burden (range: 1-5) and illness anxiety (range: 1-5). For life satisfaction, higher scores indicated higher satisfaction, and for the other two subscales greater scores indicated more issues with illness burden and illness anxiety.

assessed at Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 4-6 months follow-up; scores at 4-6 month follow-up reported

Inclusion Criteria: 14-22 year old youth who receive primary care at the Harriet Lane Clinic or Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Exclusion Criteria: Significant developmental, behavioral, substance abuse, or psychiatric disorders

Webb L, Perry-Parrish C, Ellen J, Sibinga E. Mindfulness instruction for HIV-infected youth: a randomized controlled trial. AIDS Care. 2018 Jun;30(6):688-695. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2017.1394434. Epub 2017 Oct 25.

Sibinga EM, Perry-Parrish C, Thorpe K, Mika M, Ellen JM. A small mixed-method RCT of mindfulness instruction for urban youth. Explore (NY). 2014 May-Jun;10(3):180-6. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2014.02.006. Epub 2014 Feb 25.