Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41365587›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Efficacy and moderators of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in 'Difficult to Treat' depression: protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak, Maria Velana, J Mark G Williams, Alberto Chiesa, Stuart Eisendrath, Kevin Delucchi, Zindel Segal, Mira Cladder-Micus and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Thorsten BarnhoferUniversity of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Maria NiemiDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden maria.niemi@ki.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5407-6981
Johannes MichalakDepartment of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
Maria VelanaDepartment of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
J Mark G WilliamsDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Alberto ChiesaUniversità di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Stuart EisendrathUniversity of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Kevin DelucchiUniversity of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Zindel SegalGraduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mira Cladder-MicusRadboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Anne SpeckensPsychiatry, Radboudumc Instituut voor Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs en Opleidingen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5266-1554
Ali Akbar ForoughiDepartment of Clinical Psychology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Kermanshah, Iran (the Islamic Republic of).
Mauro García-ToroResearch Network on Chronicity, Primary Care and Health Promotion, Madrid, Spain.
Jesus Montero-MarinDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Barney DunnUniversity of Exeter, Exeter, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0299-0920
Clara StraussSussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Worthing, UK.
Florian Alexander RuthsSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Mary RyanRoyal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK.
Mathias HarrerDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAbout 30% of depressed patients suffer from a protracted course in which the disorder continues to cause significant burden despite treatment efforts. While originally developed for relapse prevention, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has increasingly been investigated in depressed patients with such 'difficult-to-treat' courses. This is a protocol for an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis aiming to determine efficacy and potential moderators of MBCT treatment effects in this group based on evidence from randomised controlled trials. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Systematic searches in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, EMBASE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register for randomised controlled trials were completed on 17 June 2024. Authors of identified studies have contributed IPD, and data extractions have been completed. An update search will be conducted immediately before the start of data analyses. We will investigate the following outcomes: (a) self-reported and observer-reported severity of depression symptomatology, (b) remission and (c) clinically meaningful improvement and deterioration. One-stage and two-stage IPD-MA will be conducted with one-stage models using the observed IPD from all studies simultaneously as the primary approach. One-stage IPD models will include stratified study intercepts and error terms as well as random effects to capture between-study heterogeneity. Moderator analyses will test treatment-covariate interactions for both individual patient-level and study-level characteristics. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The results will inform understanding of the use of MBCT in patients with current 'difficult-to-treat' depression and will contribute to arguments in favour of or against implementing MBCT as a treatment for this group. They will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and made available to stakeholders in accessible formats. No local ethical review was necessary following consultation with the Ethics and Governance Board of the University of Surrey. Guidance on patient data storage and management will be adhered to throughout. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022332039.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyDepressionDepressive Disorder, Treatment-ResistantMindfulnessHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicResearch DesignSystematic Reviews as TopicTreatment OutcomeDepression & mood disordersMeta-AnalysisMindfulness

Identifiers

PMID41365587
PMCPMC12719901

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.