The Effects of Meditation on the Perceived Stress of Participants In an Outpatient Substance Abuse Program

The effects of meditation within substance abuse populations have had positive effects from reduced drug and alcohol use (Special, 2010) to utilizing coping skills to manage cravings (Chen, Comerford, Shinnick, & Ziedonis, 2010). This study aimed to examine the use of guided meditation to reduce perceived stress of participants in an outpatient substance abuse program over four weeks. The participants of this study were randomly assigned to a control group and an experimental group. The study used a pre-test, post-test model. The control group attended a one-hour training on meditation including the history of meditation, the benefits of meditation and current research regarding the effects of meditation. The control group did not participate in a guided meditation. The experimental group attended the same training on meditation but did participate in one guided meditation. Participants completed questionnaires that measured stress (Perceived Stress Scale-10 and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21) at the initial training and again at four weeks.;There was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups at four weeks on the Anxiety subscale of the DASS 21. There was a significant difference within the experimental group at four weeks on the Depression subscale, Anxiety subscale and Stress subscale of the DASS 21. To date, data has not been collected to measure the minimum amount of meditation that is needed to create a significant positive effect. The data suggests that one exposure to guided meditation does have a significant effect on anxiety in an outpatient substance abuse population but not on perceived stress or depression.