A preliminary single-group pre-post evaluation of mind-shift-mentoring for depression, anxiety, stress, and cognitive flexibility in Indian adults.

Abstract

Background: Psychoeducational therapies are important because of their crucial role in improving treatment outcomes for a wide array of diagnoses. Mind-shift-mentoring (MSM) is a psychoeducational structured program integrated with physical health components that was designed and tested in Indian adults. This study describes a preliminary evaluation of single-group pre-post changes associated with the program.

Aim: To evaluate pre-post changes associated with Mind-Shift-Mentoring (MSM) in depression, anxiety, stress and cognitive flexibility in Indian adults.

Methods: A single-group pre-post evaluation was conducted among 61 adults who completed baseline and post-MSM assessments using the DASS-21 and CFI, with 41 participants also completing a four-month follow-up. Outcomes were analyzed using paired-samples t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test as appropriate, associations were examined using Spearman's rho and Kendall's tau. Follow-up cognitive flexibility was assessed using the Friedman test.

Results: MSM was associated with significant reductions in DASS-21 scores and improvements in cognitive flexibility. Among participants who completed follow-up, cognitive flexibility remained higher than baseline at four months, while post-MSM and follow-up CFI scores did not differ significantly. Participant feedback suggested that the program was acceptable and was perceived to reduce anxiety and stress.

Conclusion: MSM was found to be associated with improvement in depression anxiety, stress and cognitive flexibility. However, given the single-group pre-post test design, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Controlled studies are needed to confirm these results and assess generalizability.