research on addiction

Objective: The comorbidity of substance abuse and mood and anxiety disorders have been proven in various studies and have led to a lot of clinical implications. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based relapse prevention and common treatment in substance abuse and symptoms of depression and anxiety among addicts. Method: This study was conducted within the framework of a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group and follow-up. Based on the Structured Clinical Interview and the acquisition of inclusion criteria, the number of sixty-three participants was selected via purposive sampling from among the men suffering from substance abuse, anxiety, and depression. Thereafter, the participants were divided into two groups, mindfulness-based relapse prevention group and conventional treatment group. Pennsylvania Alcohol Craving Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used for data collection. Results: The results showed that mindfulness-based relapse prevention interventions were effective in reducing cravings and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Due to the effectiveness of mindfulness-based relapse prevention interventions in the decrease of cravings and symptoms of depression and anxiety in addicts, these results can have good practical implications for clinicians working in addiction centers.