Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Drug and alcohol addictions are pervasive psychological disorders that affect millions of people regardless of age, race, or socio-economic level. Previous research has demonstrated substance-related disorders often show high co-morbidity with anxiety/depression disorders (McMallum, Mikocka-Walus, Turnbull, Gaughwin, & Andrews, 2013). It is also suggested that gratitude reduces lifetime risk for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders (Kleiman, Adams, Kashdan, & Riskind, 2013). Research has identified meditation as an effective method in addressing psychiatric illness, and specifically substance use disorders (Levin, 2009). The proposed study will investigate the effects of meditation and gratitude journaling among men in the early stages of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Specifically, base-line measurements of anxiety, depression, dream imagery and physiological measures will be used to compare mood fluctuations before and after intervention. The intervention will include daily meditation and gratitude journaling sessions for the participants. In order to measure depression the Beck Depression Inventory will be used, to measure anxiety the Beck Anxiety Inventory will be used. The dreams of participants will be analyzed to further assess mood. In addition, physiological measurements will be taken from participants before implementation of the meditation and gratitude journaling sessions in order to elucidate any physiological differences that may emerge as a result of intervention. The specific purpose of the proposed study is to identify potential interventions (i.e. meditation/gratitude journaling), to add to the repertoire of tools for those in early recovery. Considering the high cost of addictions to society, meditation and gratitude journaling are low cost interventions that we hope will aid those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. References Kleiman, E. M., Adams, L. M., Kashdan, T. B., & Riskind, J. H. (2013). Gratitude and grit indirectly reduce risk of suicidal ideations by enhancing meaning in life: Evidence for a mediated moderation model. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 539-546. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.04.007 Levin, F. R. (2009). The emerging role of meditation in addressing psychiatric illness, with a focus on substance use disorders. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 17(4), 254-267. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10673220903149135 McCallum, S., Mikocka-Walus, A., Turnbull, D., Gaughwin, M., & Andrews, J. (2013). The role of continuity of care (COC) in the treatment of comorbid mental health and substance use disorders (SUDS): A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 74(6), 553. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.03.062