Effects of Aerobic Exercise Combined with Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention Programs on the Relapse Tendency in Drug Abusers

Objective: To investigate the effects of aerobic exercise, mindfulness-based relapse prevention programs(MBRP), and the combination of them on relapse tendency in drug abusers. Methods: 48 drug abusers were randomly divided into a MBRP group, an exercise group, a combined group, and a control group, the certain interventions were conducted in each group. The duration of intervention was 8 weeks, and the drug abusers' relapse tendency, negative emotions, and levels of experiential avoidance were assessed at before, middle, after the intervention and at 4 weeks after the end of the intervention. Results: 1) Both of the MBRP and combination program reduced the relapse tendency in drug abusers significantly, and the effects were maintained to 4 weeks after the intervention. The combination program showed significant improvement at 4 weeks of the intervention and the effects were also better than the control group at the follow-up stage. 2) The negative emotions in the mindfulness and combined groups were highest at baseline, and it was also higher than at any stage during intervention. 3) All of the three intervention programs had a significant improvement on experiential avoidance, and the improvement effect of the MBRP and combination program was maintained to 4 weeks after the intervention, the effects were also better than the control group at the follow-up stage. Conclusion: Compared to aerobic exercise, MBRP is more effective in improving the relapse tendency in drug abusers. The combined 8-week program is more effective than the single-intervention program in intervening the tendency to relapse in drug abusers.