Journal of occupational health psychology
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J Occup Health Psychol · Feb 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialMindfulness training improves employee well-being: A randomized controlled trial.
Organizations are turning toward behavioral interventions with the aim of improving employee well-being and job performance. Mindfulness training has been suggested as one type of intervention that can achieve these goals, but few active treatment randomized controlled trials have been conducted. ⋯ Although both groups improved comparably on job productivity, the 6-week mindfulness training group had significantly greater improvement in attentional focus at work and decreases in work-life conflict, as well as a marginal improvement in job satisfaction compared with the half-day seminar comparison group. These findings suggest that although small doses of mindfulness training may be sufficient to foster increased perceptions of job productivity, longer term mindfulness training programs are needed to improve focus, job satisfaction, and a positive relationship to work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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J Occup Health Psychol · Feb 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialFusing character strengths and mindfulness interventions: Benefits for job satisfaction and performance.
In recent years, both mindfulness and character strengths have started to garner interest in industrial and organizational psychology. The growing research interest in their effects on employee well-being and performance, individually, has strong practical implications for organizations. Given the interconnection of mindfulness and character strengths, the present study examined the effectiveness of training that combined the two practices regarding well-being and work-related outcomes, and it tested the potential mediators of the effects at work. ⋯ Potential mediators for the intervention effect of MBSP at work were tested using four criteria adapted from a previous study. Results showed the MBSR was effective for increasing well-being, reducing perceived stress, and increasing job satisfaction, whereas the MBSP was effective for increasing well-being, job satisfaction, and task performance. These findings suggest that mindfulness alone seems to function better when regarding well-being at work, while fusing character strengths on top of it seems to influence the participants, on a motivational level, and thus bolsters task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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J Occup Health Psychol · Feb 2019
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyMindfulness on-the-go: Effects of a mindfulness meditation app on work stress and well-being.
We investigated whether a mindfulness meditation program delivered via a smartphone application could improve psychological well-being, reduce job strain, and reduce ambulatory blood pressure during the workday. Participants were 238 healthy employees from two large United Kingdom companies that were randomized to a mindfulness meditation practice app or a wait-list control condition. The app offered 45 prerecorded 10- to 20-min guided audio meditations. ⋯ In addition, the intervention group had a marginally significant decrease in self-measured workday systolic blood pressure from pre- to post-intervention. Sustained positive effects in the intervention group were found for well-being and job strain at the 16-week follow-up assessment. This trial suggests that short guided mindfulness meditations delivered via smartphone and practiced multiple times per week can improve outcomes related to work stress and well-being, with potentially lasting effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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J Occup Health Psychol · Apr 2017
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyCultivating teacher mindfulness: Effects of a randomized controlled trial on work, home, and sleep outcomes.
The effects of randomization to a workplace mindfulness training (WMT) or a waitlist control condition on teachers' well-being (moods and satisfaction at work and home), quantity of sleep, quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day were examined in 2 randomized, waitlist controlled trials (RCTs). The combined sample of the 2 RCTs, conducted in Canada and the United States, included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female). ⋯ Results showed that teachers randomized to WMT reported less frequent bad moods at work and home, greater satisfaction at work and home, more sleep on weekday nights, better quality sleep, and decreased insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness. Training-related group differences in mindfulness and rumination on work at home at postprogram partially mediated the reductions in negative moods at home and increases in sleep quality at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record
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J Occup Health Psychol · Apr 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialInternet-based instructor-led mindfulness for work-related rumination, fatigue, and sleep: Assessing facets of mindfulness as mechanisms of change. A randomized waitlist control trial.
This study aimed to extend our theoretical understanding of how mindfulness-based interventions exert their positive influence on measures of occupational health. Employing a randomized waitlist control study design, we sought to (a) assess an Internet-based instructor-led mindfulness intervention for its effect on key factors associated with "recovery from work," specifically, work-related rumination, fatigue, and sleep quality; (b) assess different facets of mindfulness (acting with awareness, describing, nonjudging, and nonreacting) as mechanisms of change; and (c) assess whether the effect of the intervention was maintained over time by following up our participants after 3 and 6 months. ⋯ The effect of the intervention was primarily explained by increased levels of only 1 facet of mindfulness (acting with awareness). This study provides support for online mindfulness interventions to aid recovery from work and furthers our understanding with regard to how mindfulness interventions exert their positive effects. (PsycINFO Database Record