Mindful walking in psychologically distressed individuals: a randomized controlled trial

Summary & key facts

This randomized trial put 74 adults with moderate-to-high perceived stress into either an 8-session mindful walking program over 4 weeks or a waiting-list control. After 4 weeks, the mindful walking group had a much larger drop in perceived stress scores than the control group. The study also reported better quality-of-life scores in the mindful walking group. The trial was small, short (primary outcome at 4 weeks), and used no active comparison, so the authors say more research with active controls and longer follow-up is needed.

Key facts:

• 74 adults were randomized: 36 to mindful walking (32 female, mean age 52.3 ± 8.6 years) and 38 to the waiting-list control (35 female, mean age 49.5 ± 8.8 years).
• The mindful walking program consisted of 8 sessions in 4 weeks; each session had 40 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of mindful walking, and 10 minutes of discussion.
• Primary outcome (Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale): after 4 weeks the adjusted change was −8.8 (95% CI −10.8 to −6.8) in the mindful walking group and −1.0 (95% CI −2.9 to 0.9) in the control group (group difference P < 0.001).
• Reported mean CPSS scores at 4 weeks were about 24.2 (95% CI 22.2–26.2) for the mindful walking group and about 32.0 (95% CI 30.1–33.9) for the control group.
• The study reported improvements in quality-of-life measures (SF-36) for the mindful walking group compared with no intervention.
• Limitations noted by the authors: the control was a no-treatment waiting group, the follow-up was short, and further studies should include an active treatment group and longer-term follow-up.

Abstract

Background. The aim of this randomized, controlled study was to investigate the effectiveness of a mindful walking program in patients with high levels of perceived psychological distress. Methods. Participants aged between 18 and 65 years with moderate to high levels of perceived psychological dist …

Topics

Art Therapy and Mental Health Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Clinical psychology Distress Internal medicine Intervention (counseling) Linguistics Medicine Mental health Mindfulness Nursing Perceived Stress Scale Philosophy Physical therapy Psychiatry Psychological distress Psychological intervention Psychology Quality of life (healthcare) Randomized controlled trial Stress (linguistics)