The Intervention Of Mindfulness-based Practice For Female Incarcerated Substance Abusers With Physical Syndromes And Psychological Symptoms

Objective: To investigate the physiological symptoms, psychological symptoms and copingstyle of female incarcerated substance abusers; to evaluate the effects of mindfulness-basedpractice in female incarcerated substance abusers; to explore the relationship betweenmindfulness, craving of heroin, withdrawal symptoms and coping style. Provide some referenceto application of mindfulness-based practice in substance abusers.Method:120female incarcerated substance abusers from4teams were selected fromcompulsory rehabilitation/treatment center; there were30participants in each team. These teamswere randomly assigned by throwing coin to either treatment group or control group. Allparticipants in treatment group got mindfulness-based practice; the participants in control groupwere not. Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire, Opiate Protracted Abstinent Symptoms Scale,Heroin Craving Questionnaire, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating depression scale(SDS) and Coping Style Questionnaire (CSQ) were used. Two sample t-test and chi-square wereused to examine the baselines, repeated measures ANOVA for assessing the effects ofmindfulness-based practice between and within groups, then a structural equation model wasestablished and tested by using AMOS5.0.Results: The incidence rate of depression was63.4%; incidence rate of anxiety was30.4%.Participants in earlier stage show the group effects, the treatment group compare with controlgroup shows a better improvement in physiological symptoms（F=4.62, P=0.036） and cravingsymptoms （F=4.96, P=0.030）of withdrawal symptoms, and less improvement in sheepsymptoms（F=7.48, P=0.008）. Participants in late stage show that the treatment group has a betterimprovement in sheep symptoms（F=4.24, P=0.044）. The structural equation modeling wasestablished. There were a negative effect between the “solving problem” and withdrawalsymptoms, positive effects between “self accusation”,“retreat”,“rationalization” and withdrawalsymptoms. There were direct and indirect relations between mindfulness and withdrawal symptoms.Conclusion: Results from the trial suggested mindfulness-based practice could increaseawareness of craving, and improve sleeping problems in participants who were in the late stage.Mindfulness-based practice could decrease incarcerated substance abusers’ physical syndromesor psychological symptoms, improve the quality of life.