{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:38:42Z","timestamp":1785404322035,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"PCP Academic Media Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]],"date-time":"2025-11-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762992000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Buspirone shows a certain efficacy in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but its combination therapy with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) remains unclear. To compare buspirone+MBCT versus buspirone alone for GAD in a retrospective cohort.\n\nMethods: According to the treatment regimens, patients were assigned to the experimental group (n=50) to receive 120 minutes of MBCT sessions per week plus buspirone, or the control group (n=50) to receive buspirone only. Comprehensive evaluations were conducted at 5 time points (baseline (Week 0, W0), W1, W2, W4, and W8), including clinician-rated measures (Hamilton Anxiety Scale [HAMA]), self-reported symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Anxiety [HADS-A]), sleep parameters (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] and Athens Insomnia Scale [AIS]), and morning serum cortisol levels (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; \u03bcg\/mL). Group-by-time effects were modeled with repeated-measures mixed models; 2-sided \u03b1=0.05.\n\nResults: The combination therapy demonstrated superior outcomes across all measures from W1 onward (all P &lt; .05). By W8, the experimental group showed significantly greater reductions in HAMA (6.1 \u00b1 1.5 vs. 10.1 \u00b1 1.8, P &lt; .001), HADS-A (4.2 \u00b1 1.6 vs. 5.6 \u00b1 1.8, P &lt; .001), PSQI (5.1 \u00b1 2.0 vs. 7.2 \u00b1 2.2, P\n&lt; .001), and AIS (2.6 \u00b1 1.5 vs. 3.9 \u00b1 1.6, P &lt; .001). Cortisol levels decreased more substantially in the combination group (209.8 \u00b1 33.1 \u03bcg\/dL vs. 264.0 \u00b1 48.5 \u03bcg\/dL, P &lt; .001). Treatment effects emerged rapidly, with significant differences in HAMA (P &lt; .001) and cortisol (P &lt; .001) evident by W1. Adverse\nevents were mild and comparable.\n\nConclusion: Adding MBCT to buspirone was associated with faster and greater clinical and biomarker improvements; prospective randomized trials are warranted.\n\nCite this article as: Ma Y, Ge Z, Wu X. Effects of buspirone combined with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on emotional improvement, sleep quality, and serum cortisol level in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Clin Psychopharmacol. Published online November 13, 2025. doi:https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5152\/pcp.2025.251242.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.5152\/pcp.2025.251242","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]],"date-time":"2025-11-13T14:10:44Z","timestamp":1763043044000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Buspirone Combined with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Emotional Improvement, Sleep Quality, and Serum Cortisol Level in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder"],"prefix":"10.65801","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1746-5330","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yimeng","family":"Ma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/038hzq450","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Xinxiang Medical University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-9959-2495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhiguo","family":"Ge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/038hzq450","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Xinxiang Medical University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-8483-2913","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xinyan","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0278r4c85","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"55342","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]]},"container-title":["Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T19:57:20Z","timestamp":1768247840000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/psychiatry-psychopharmacology.com\/en\/effects-of-buspirone-combined-with-mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy-on-emotional-improvement-sleep-quality-and-serum-cortisol-level-in-patients-with-generalized-anxiety-disorder-133380"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5152\/pcp.2025.251242","relation":{},"ISSN":["2475-0581"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2475-0581","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]]}}}