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Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., Dunn, T., Singh, N., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014). Meditation Awareness Training for work-related wellbeing and job performance: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 12, 806-823.
Abstract
Due to its potential to concurrently improve work-related wellbeing (WRW) and job performance, occupational stakeholders are becoming increasingly interested in the applications of meditation. The present study conducted the first randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of meditation on outcomes relating to both WRW and job performance. Office-based middle-hierarchy managers (n = 152) received an eight-week meditation intervention (Meditation Awareness Training; MAT) or an active control intervention. MAT participants demonstrated significant and sustainable improvements (with strong effect sizes) over control-group participants in levels of work-related stress, job satisfaction, psychological distress, and employer-rated job performance. There are a number of novel implications: (i) meditation can effectuate a perceptual shift in how employees experience their work and psychological environment and may thus constitute a cost-effective WRW intervention, (ii) meditation-based (i.e., present-moment-focussed) working styles may be more effective than goal-based (i.e., future-orientated) working styles, and (iii) meditation may reduce the separation made by employees between their own interests and those of the organizations they work for.
... The majority (k=10) were multimodal interventions (20,21,53,56,57,62,64,66,67,69,72), combining cognitive-behavioral, relaxation, or leadership-specific components. Six studies (25%) applied a cognitive-behavioral approach (22,56,58,60,62,63), four (16%) focused on relaxation techniques (65,68,70,71), followed by biofeedback Leader-targeted stress management interventions: a review (37,52,59), organization-focused (55), and alternative intervention (54). Most multimodal interventions (66%) applied two different intervention type components. ...
... Interventions varied widely, from one 8-hour virtual group sessions (57) to eight weekly 180-minute group sessions with individual follow-up sessions and daily homework exercises over three months (72) or interventions providing 30 hours of learning over six months (20,69). Most commonly, interventions employed multiple delivery modes, including group or individual sessions and self-practice (20,21,54,56,58,61,66,(68)(69)(70)(71)(72). Specifically, all three biofeedback interventions (37,52,59) were administered through individual face-to-face sessions, while virtual training formats (k=6) (53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 67) included group sessions or self-practice. ...
... Among the included studies, eleven (44%) measured short-term (37,52,54,56,57,59,61,62,65,66,70), six (24%) medium-term (21,53,63,67,69,72), and four (16%) long-term outcomes (20,55,60). Additionally, four publications (16%) combined data from shortand medium-term follow-ups (58,64,68,71). ...
... Some other interventions like Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT; Jazaieri et al., 2013), Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT; Desbordes et al., 2012), and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC; Neff & Germer, 2013) were also categorized as SG-MBIs because they shared similar features (e.g., Chen & Jordan, 2020;Shonin et al., 2017). Several studies have consistently demonstrated that SG-MBIs improve prosocial emotions or behaviors, interpersonal attitudes, and spiritual growth in addition to affecting mental disorders and wellbeing (e.g., Shonin et al., 2014a;Weingartner et al., 2019;Zheng et al., 2022). ...
... The second representative ideal mentality is a group of mentalities based on emptiness. Emptiness is the intrinsic existence of everything (i.e., self, others, and all phenomena) being absent and empty, and it is a profound, subtle, and highly abstract concept (Shonin et al., 2014a(Shonin et al., , 2014b. Not only is it a fundamental Buddhist teaching, but it is also a part of full actualization, which is regarded as the perfect or final state of being (Van Gordon et al., 2015a). ...
... Thus, hitherto, only MAT and emptiness meditation appeal to emptiness and related ideal mentalities. Previous studies have reported entire MAT can decrease the pain of fibromyalgia syndrome (Van Gordon et al., 2017a, b) and increase job satisfaction and work performance (Shonin et al., 2014a), and further qualitative studies have shown that emptiness in MAT can help practitioners improve their feelings of sense, and willingness to undertake work tasks . Although there is a lack of evidence for achieved ideal mentalities, studies on emptiness meditation have demonstrated that it can increase nonattachment, compassion, and positive affect and decrease negative affect (Van Gordon et al., 2019), which showed interventions are effective in cultivating ideal mentalities. ...
As an important trend in the research on and practice of mindfulness, second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) expanded components and emphasized ethics and wisdom. The current article proposes another important feature of SG-MBIs, the cultivation of ideal mentalities, such as the nondifferential four immeasurables (i.e., equal prosocial attitudes toward different people) and mentalities of emptiness or oneness.
The current article theoretically discusses and analyzes the challenges and contributions of SG-MBIs in cultivating ideal mentalities.
The new feature of SG-MBIs, cultivation of ideal mentalities, leads to five interconnected challenges for research and practice: (1) providing empirical and theoretical support for new elements; (2) matching the purposes of interventions with the needs of trainees; (3) achieving ideal mentalities during interventions; (4) assessing ideal mentalities in proper ways; and (5) clarifying the ethics and values for trainees.
These challenges posed by the new feature need to be discussed and addressed in the future. Nevertheless, SG-MBIs effectively embody the objectives of ideal psychology and illustrate methodological principles in research on ideal mentalities, which will benefit research on other ideal mentalities rooted in different traditions.
... The interventions included in this review were classified into six categories (physical activity intervention, ergonomics intervention, psychological intervention, environmental intervention, multicomponent intervention, and others). Seven of the included studies were classified as physical activity intervention (Atlantis et al., 2004;Brand et al., 2006;Sjogren et al., 2006;Puig-Ribera et al., 2008;Hartfiel et al., 2011;Strijk et al., 2013;Mansi et al., 2015); three were ergonomics intervention (King et al., 1997;Haukka et al., 2010;Figl-Hertlein et al., 2014); 21 were psychological intervention, including mindfulness (Hülsheger et al., 2013;Aikens et al., 2014;Shonin et al., 2014;Van Berkel et al., 2014;Allexandre et al., 2016;Crain et al., 2017), CB-based approach (Bond and Bunce, 2000;Billings et al., 2008;Sanders et al., 2011;Unsworth and Mason, 2012;Vuori et al., 2012;Bolier et al., 2014;Umanodan et al., 2014;Barbosa et al., 2015), and other psychological interventions (Waite and Richardson, 2004;Fillion et al., 2009;Feicht et al., 2013;Coffeng et al., 2014;Tuckey and Scott, 2014;Morgan and Harris, 2015;Muller et al., 2016); three were environmental intervention (Linzer et al., 2015;Stansfeld et al., 2015;Alhassan et al., 2016), two were multicomponent intervention (Russell, 2008;Sforzo et al., 2012); and three were others (Bittman et al., 2003;Schrijnemaekers et al., 2003;Backman et al., 2011). ...
... Among these, three were mindfulness-related group sessions (Aikens et al., 2014;Van Berkel et al., 2014;Crain et al., 2017), one was self-training (Hülsheger et al., 2013), and the other was a web-based program (Allexandre et al., 2016). In addition, one meditation awareness training (acceptance commitment therapy: ACT) intervention was also reported (Shonin et al., 2014). These mindfulness programs were effective for improving evaluative well-being (e.g., job satisfaction and life satisfaction) (Hülsheger et al., 2013;Shonin et al., 2014;Crain et al., 2017), hedonic well-being (e.g., vigor/ vitality) (Aikens et al., 2014;Allexandre et al., 2016), and the mental component of QOL (Allexandre et al., 2016). ...
... In addition, one meditation awareness training (acceptance commitment therapy: ACT) intervention was also reported (Shonin et al., 2014). These mindfulness programs were effective for improving evaluative well-being (e.g., job satisfaction and life satisfaction) (Hülsheger et al., 2013;Shonin et al., 2014;Crain et al., 2017), hedonic well-being (e.g., vigor/ vitality) (Aikens et al., 2014;Allexandre et al., 2016), and the mental component of QOL (Allexandre et al., 2016). ...
Objectives: This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to improve subjective well-being (SWB), including evaluative, hedonic, and eudemonic well-being, and the mental component of quality of life (QOL) of working population.
Methods: A literature search was conducted, using PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES. Eligible studies included those that were RCTs of any intervention, conducted among healthy workers, measured SWB as a primary outcome, and original articles in English. Study characteristics, intervention, outcomes, and results on SWB outcomes were extracted by the investigators independently. After a brief narrative summarizing and classifying the contents of the interventions, the included outcomes were categorized into each aspect of SWB (evaluative, hedonic, and eudemonic well-being, and the mental component of QOL). Finally, the characteristics of the effective interventions for increasing each aspect were summarized, and the pooled effect of interventions on SWB was investigated by a meta-analysis. Publication bias was investigated by drawing a funnel plot and conducting Egger's test.
Results: From the 5,450 articles found, 39 met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. The interventions included in this review were classified into six categories (physical activity, ergonomics, psychological, environmental, multicomponent intervention, and others). The meta-analysis from 31 studies showed that the pooled effect of included interventions on SWB was significantly positive (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.51; standard error (SE) = 0.10). A funnel plot showed there were extremely large or small SMDs, and Egger's test was significant. Thus, we conducted sensitivity analysis, excluding these extreme SMDs, and confirmed that the estimated pooled effect was also significantly positive. Subgroup analyses for separate types of interventions showed the effects of psychological interventions (e.g., mindfulness, cognitive behavioral based approach, and other psychological interventions) were also significantly positive.
Conclusion: The current study revealed the effectiveness of interventions for increasing SWB. Specifically, psychological interventions (e.g., mindfulness, cognitive behavioral based approach, and other psychological interventions) may be useful for improving SWB.
... Wolever et al. (2012) did not report any improvements in productivity, whereas Slutsky et al. (2019) reported that employees felt more focused and productive following an on-site mindfulness intervention but did not collect any data that was not based in self-assessment. Shonin et al. (2014) conducted an intervention in officebased employees that resulted in lower levels of stress, psychological distress, and higher levels of job satisfaction and supervisor-rated workplace performance. Finally, a recent study by Bartlett et al. (2017) looked at the influence of a mindfulness intervention on informant-ratings and reported some indication via qualitative reports that the program had benefits observable to outsiders, but quantitative results did not mirror this finding. ...
... Although we had the aforementioned targeted hypotheses, we employed a wider range of 27 workplace competencies relevant to the job requirements in our sample population as an exploratory first step due to the lack of prior research. Finally based on prior research by Shonin et al. (2014) showing improved workplace performance ratings, we hypothesized that colleague raters would provide higher ratings for intervention participants following the mindfulness intervention (H8). ...
... Since we reported a significant decrease in perceived stress in the current sample this explanation does not account for our findings. Given that several organizational mindfulnessbased interventions do not report employing any mindfulness assessment (Davidson et al., 2003;Bazarko et al., 2013;Shonin et al., 2014;Chin et al., 2019b;Slutsky et al., 2019) further research with organizational interventions is required to explore how the different facets of mindfulness are affected by different interventions. In contrast to the findings of Querstret et al. (2018), we reported significant increases on the non-reacting to inner experience facet of the FFMQ-SF. ...
A randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an online 8-week mindfulness-based training program in a sample of adults employed fulltime at a Fortune 100 company in the United States. Baseline measures were collected in both intervention and control groups. Following training, the intervention group (N = 37) showed statistically significant increases in resilience and positive mood, and significant decreases in stress and negative mood. There were no reported improvements in the wait-list control group (N = 65). Trait mindfulness and emotional intelligence (EI) were also assessed. Following the intervention mindfulness intervention participants reported increases in trait mindfulness and increases on all trait EI facets with the exception of empathy. The control group did not report any positive changes in these variables, and reported reductions in resilience and increases in negative mood. Finally, both self and colleague ratings of workplace competencies were collected in the intervention group only and provided preliminary evidence that mindfulness training enhanced performance on key leadership competencies including competencies related to decisiveness and creativity. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of an online-based mindfulness training program for enhancing well-being, self-perceptions of emotional intelligence, and workplace performance.
... Integrating self-compassion into both bodies of research may lead to a new understanding of these variables and their relationship to crime. For example, selfcompassion is linked to mindfulness meditation practices (Patel et al., 2018;Rice et al., 2024), and mindfulness meditation practices have been linked to low impulsivity (Morley, 2018) and low recidivism (Alexander et al., 2014;Pankovics et al., 2024;Rainforth et al., 2003;Shonin et al., 2014). The findings of this study could indicate a potential mechanism for understanding the relationship between mindfulness practices and criminality. ...
Previous research indicates that low self-control, self-esteem, and self-compassion are associated with criminality. Although these studies suggest a correlation between these variables, previous studies have not yet explored the impact of the intersection of these variables on crime. This study aimed to investigate self-compassion as a mediator of self-esteem and low self-control. A sample of 94 prisoners in a United States county jail completed questionnaires measuring self-esteem, low self-control, and self-compassion. Mediation and correlational analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships among self-esteem, low self-control, and self-compassion. This study concluded that low self-control was negatively correlated with self-esteem and self-compassion. The results also concluded that self-compassion and self-esteem were positively correlated. Self-compassion was found to mediate the relationship between self-esteem and low self-control. Key implications of these findings are discussed.
... Originating from ancient Eastern meditation traditions, mindfulness has secured a position in the study of contemporary psychology. According to Shonin et al. [49], mindfulness can manifest either as a consistent trait ('Trait Mindfulness') or as a state of being ('State Mindfulness'). While the presence of trait mindfulness naturally varies among individuals, state mindfulness typically emerges or is sustained following mindfulness training interventions. ...
Background
As societal evolution unfolds in China, individuals with physical disabilities are increasingly provided opportunities in higher education, particularly in the field of medicine. However, these medical students often encounter bias in their work environments, including during internships, which fosters self-stigma and impedes their experience for workplace well-being (WWB). Such a decrease in WWB detrimentally affects not only their mental health in the workplace but also hinders their sense of personal worth and assimilation into broader society. This study aims to examine the challenges faced by medical students with physical disabilities in China as they aspire to achieve WWB, and to explore potential intervention strategies.
Methods
Leveraging cognitive consistency theory (CCT), we introduces a conceptual framework to examine the relationships among self-stigma, perceived discrimination, and WWB. It also investigates the role of trait mindfulness as a potential mitigating factor in this dynamic. We employed the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMIS), Discrimination Perception Questionnaire (DPQ), Workplace Well-being Subscale (WWBS), and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) to survey 316 medical students with physical disabilities. Statistical analyses, including correlation, regression, and moderated mediation effect assessments, were conducted using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0.
Results
A notable negative correlation exists between self-stigma and WWB (r = -0.56, p < 0.01). Perceived discrimination partially mediates the relationship between self-stigma and WWB. The direct effect of self-stigma and its mediating effect through perceived discrimination account for 60.71% and 21.43% of the total effect, respectively. Trait mindfulness moderates the latter part of this mediating pathway. Moderation models indicate that trait mindfulness has a significant negative moderating effect on the impact of perceived discrimination on WWB (β = -0.10, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Self-stigma adversely affects the positive work experiences of medical students with physical disabilities by eliciting a heightened sensitivity to discriminatory cues, thereby undermining their WWB. Trait mindfulness can effectively counter the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on WWB. Consequently, this study advocates for the systematic incorporation of mindfulness training into educational services and workplace enhancement programs for medical students with disabilities, aiming to foster an inclusive and supportive external environment.
... Specifically, they propose that mindfulness-based self-regulatory processes could enhance a set of performance criteria, including improved communication, task performance, decision-making, and concentration (Glomb et al., 2011; also see Good et al., 2016). Reflecting these criteria, various measures have been used to assess the influence of mindfulness on job performance, such as work engagement, task and contextual performance, work-related efficacy, and managers' performance ratings (Huang et al., 2022;Lomas et al., 2019;Shonin et al., 2014). When compared to stress and well-being outcomes, performance measures are less frequently included in controlled trials of worksite mindfulness interventions, and equivocal findings have hindered conclusions (Bartlett et al., 2019;Vonderlin et al., 2020). ...
Mindfulness interventions have become a common feature of worksite stress management provision. However, the evidence underpinning these interventions continues to attract scrutiny, with unresolved questions surrounding: the generalizability of mindfulness research findings to real-world workplace training applications, comparability of different mindfulness approaches offered in workplace settings, and effects on job performance. The current trial contributes to the literature by exploring effects of mindfulness training (MT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which were delivered to staff in the same healthcare organization. Participants were randomly assigned to a 4-session MT program (n = 63), a 4-session ACT program (n = 67), or a waiting list control group (n = 69). Study measures were administered on five occasions spread across a 6-month period. Results indicated that both MT and ACT reduced perceived stress and improved mindfulness and sleep quality when compared to the control group. ACT showed slight superiority in helping employees align their behaviour with personal values. Neither MT nor ACT was effective in reducing work limitations. We consider explanations for equivocal effects on job performance outcomes, and highlight the importance of testing the effectiveness of worksite mindfulness interventions under ecologically valid conditions. ARTICLE HISTORY
... risk of burn-out, therefore improving job satisfaction and productivity (Shonin et al., 2014;Lomas et al., 2017;Kersemaekers et al., 2018). Regarding positive-psychology interventions in a work environment, meta-analyses have identified a significant positive impact on well-being but ambiguous results on negative emotional states (Meyers et al., 2013). ...
... Dentro desse conjunto de oito artigos, três se concentraram na avaliação dos efeitos das práticas de mindfulness no desempenho (Dane & Brummel, 2014;Lyddy et al., 2021;Ngo et al., 2020). Um dos estudos analisou tanto os efeitos no bem-estar quanto no desempenho (Shonin, 2014), outros dois investigaram os impactos na satisfação e no desempenho (Nübold e Hülsheger, 2021) (Slutsky, 2019), um terceiro avaliou especificamente a satisfação (Wongtongkam, 2017) e, por fim, um estudo examinou o impacto das práticas de mindfulness nas três variáveis: desempenho, satisfação e bem-estar (Pang & Ruch, 2019). ...
O presente estudo analisou, por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, o impacto das práticas de atenção plena (mindfulness) no desempenho e satisfação do trabalho, caracterizando-as e identificando os instrumentos utilizados para avaliar seus resultados. A busca realizada nas bases de dados PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science e Scopus retornou 118 materiais. Após a aplicação dos critérios de inclusão (artigos disponíveis na íntegra, escritos em português, inglês ou espanhol, publicados em periódicos revisados por pares e que investigam a relação entre mindfulness, satisfação no trabalho e/ou desempenho no trabalho), nove foram selecionados para análise integral, e oito artigos compuseram a amostra final. As questões norteadoras abordaram a relação das práticas de mindfulness com a satisfação no trabalho e a maneira como as práticas de mindfulness influenciam os contextos de trabalho. Os materiais analisados evidenciaram uma relação positiva entre práticas de atenção plena, satisfação e desempenho no trabalho, resiliência e bem-estar dos funcionários. Mais especificamente, demonstraram que executar exercícios de mindfulness no local de trabalho pode contribuir para a ampliação da autoconsciência e do estado de alerta dos funcionários, mostrando maior desenvolvimento referente ao foco e a calma no momento presente. A prática de mindfulness contribui para a melhora da autoconsciência, estado de alerta, equilíbrio emocional e físico, concentração, memória, empatia e autoconhecimento. Dessa forma, permite que os indivíduos lidem de forma mais eficaz com os desafios e demandas do ambiente de trabalho, bem como com o estresse, a ruminação e os pensamentos depressivos que podem decorrer desse contexto.
... risk of burn-out, therefore improving job satisfaction and productivity (Shonin et al., 2014;Lomas et al., 2017;Kersemaekers et al., 2018). Regarding positive-psychology interventions in a work environment, meta-analyses have identified a significant positive impact on well-being but ambiguous results on negative emotional states (Meyers et al., 2013). ...
... risk of burn-out, therefore improving job satisfaction and productivity (Shonin et al., 2014;Lomas et al., 2017;Kersemaekers et al., 2018). Regarding positive-psychology interventions in a work environment, meta-analyses have identified a significant positive impact on well-being but ambiguous results on negative emotional states (Meyers et al., 2013). ...
... Notably, researchers have found that mindful individuals perceive less stress and more well-being (Grossman et al. 2004;Eberth and Sedlmeier 2012;Burton et al. 2017) and increase their performance (Shonin et al. 2014). A recent review (Good et al. 2016) showed that a mindfulness control state improves communication and mood and reduces conflict emotional reactivity, perceived stress, and counterproductive behaviours. ...
Restorative Quality of the Work Environments: The Moderation Effect of Environmental Resources between Job Demands and Mindfulness. Social Sciences 12: 375. Abstract: In the work context, employees must cope with everyday demands, which deplete psychological resources (e.g., direct attention and concentration). The environment's perceived quality (i.e., perceived restorativeness) helps people recover from job demands by restoring the psychological resources depleted during working hours. Therefore, this study examines the possible moderating effect of restorativeness (i.e., fascination and compatibility dimensions) between job demands (i.e., cognitive demands and work overload) and a specific form of attention, such as mindfulness, within the Job Demands-Resources Model. To achieve this aim, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 210 Italian employees working in five different sectors. They completed a self-report questionnaire in their work context. The hypotheses were verified with linear regression analyses, including age, gender, and hours per day worked as control variables. The findings show that cognitive demands are significantly and negatively correlated with mindfulness and that the demands-mindfulness relationship is weaker among employees who perceived greater restorative quality regarding "compatibility" with the work context. Conversely, work overload is not significantly correlated with mindfulness. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of considering the levels of restorativeness (i.e., compatibility) in the work context for indirectly enhancing mindful-ness. In particular, a work environment with compatible characteristics can help employees recover from job demands.
... Bien-être -Collaborateurs (Manotas et al., 2014 ;Flook et al., 2013) -Collaborateurs managers (Roche et al., 2014 ;Shonin et al., 2014) -Réduction : du stress, de la détresse psychologique, du risque de burnout au travail -Lien entre mindfulness des managers et bien-être (Reb et al., 2014) -Amélioration : de l'équilibre perçu entre vie privée et vie professionnelle (Michel et al., 2014) ; de la satisfaction au travail (Hülsheger et al., 2013) -Lien entre mindfulness des managers et performance et état émotionnel des collaborateurs qu'ils encadrent (Reb et al., 2014 ;Sy et al., 2005) Performance au travail Collaborateurs -Meilleure congruence entre objectifs professionnels et valeurs personnelles (Leroy et al., 2013) -Corrélation entre mindfulness, engagement professionnel et performance dans un environnement dynamique avec un haut niveau de stress (Dane et Brummel, 2014) Meilleur engagement professionnel (Leroy et al., 2013) Comportements organisationnels -Collaborateurs -Collaborateurs managers -Directeurs (Françoise, 2016) -Favorise les comportements organisationnels citoyens -Réduction des comportements (Reb et al., 2015) : (Spreitzer, 1995). L'empowerment psychologique, apporte un autre éclairage à la notion d'empowerment en s'intéressant au jugement personnel du collaborateur sur sa capacité à se sentir responsabilisé et en capacité de réaliser la tâche (Conger et Kanungo, 1988) : a-t-il le sentiment de pouvoir exercer son travail ? ...
Cette recherche s’intéresse aux effets de la mindfulness (ou pleine conscience) sur l’empowerment psychologique des managers au travail. L’étude porte sur une expérience de 8 mois, conduite auprès de 13 managers et 35 collaborateurs, dans deux entreprises. Elle montre comment une pratique personnelle visant la libération de l’esprit (la mindfulness) affecte l’empowerment psychologique, concept qui dans le cadre d’une organisation, vise à améliorer la performance des salariés dans l’entreprise. Nous suggérons que ce lien entre mindfulness et empowerment psychologique pourrait renforcer la capacité à agir des managers et être vecteur d’une plus grande conscience critique sur le lieu de travail. Cette recherche fait donc émerger un empowerment « conscient » et en propose une définition. A la lumière de ces résultats, l’étude propose des recommandations liées à la mise en œuvre de la mindfulness en entreprise et en présente les limites.
... Unlike first-generation mindfulness-based interventions (FG-MBIs) that exclude religious, spiritual, or cultural beliefs (Black, 2011), second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) have emerged in recent years and have begun to integrate basic principles of Buddhist doctrine, including wisdom, emptiness, and non-self, to enhance the effectiveness of mindfulness (Shonin et al., 2014a). Thus, the Buddhist ethical principles that are being incorporated into SG-MBIs emphasize the combination of Buddhist ethics and loving-kindness with mindfulness meditation (Shonin et al., 2014b). However, these Buddhist ethics and values (e.g., selflessness and unconditional kindness to all beings) may be not wholly accepted by individuals in the context of Chinese Confucian culture, which has a unique morality and unique values of its own. ...
Mindfulness has become an area of great interest in Western psychology, but it has been criticized for its de-religionization. Based on Chinese Confucianist Liu Zongzhou’s concept of shendu (慎独; vigilance in solitude), this study attempts to present a complete overview of the Confucian mindfulness meditation system from the theoretical basis and training method. The unique value of Confucian mindfulness meditation is that it directly points to morality, which can make up for the deficiency of mindfulness in Western psychology. Furthermore, Confucian mindfulness meditation can provide more suitable training methods for individuals who are culturally Chinese.
... Breathing techniques involve an intentional alteration to breathing rhythm, which can come from changing breathing rate (e.g., following an on-screen pacer in HR variability [HRV]biofeedback), or through forceful inhalation and exhalation (e.g., fast-paced pranayama; Saoji et al., 2019). Breathing techniques have recently gained popularity due to the pursuit of positive well-being (Gilmartin et al., 2017;Shonin et al., 2014), and many techniques have been advanced by technology (e.g., HRV-biofeedback; Lehrer et al., 2000). While beneficial, these technological advancements come with barriers including cost, time, knowledge, and expertise (e.g., Chittaro & Sioni, 2014). ...
This study examined the effect of slow diaphragmatic breathing on psychophysiological stress responses and pressurized performance. Sixty-seven participants (40 female; M age = 20.17 ± 2.77 years) were randomly assigned to either a diaphragmatic-breathing, paced-breathing, or control group. Participants completed a nonpressurized shooting task and then received instructions about a pressurized version. Next, the diaphragmatic group was told to breathe at 6 breaths/min, the paced group at 12 breaths/min, and the control group received no instructions. Following a 5-min intervention period, participants completed the pressurized task while performance was assessed. Psychophysiological stress responses (e.g., cognitive anxiety, heart rate) were recorded throughout. Results revealed that diaphragmatic breathing had mixed effects on stress responses, with some unaffected (e.g., heart rate) and others reduced (e.g., cognitive anxiety), and little effect on performance. Findings suggested that slow diaphragmatic breathing might not aid pressurized performance but could benefit psychological stress responses.
... Studies related to group dynamics and how interpersonal dynamics effects the individuals were less available (Malinowski and Lim, 2015;Reb et al., 2015). Studies confirmed the lack of adequate work in relation to group dynamics and relationship in organizational context (e.g., Hülsheger et al., 2013;Hülsheger et al., 2014;Roche et al., 2014;Shonin et al., 2014). However, thorough investigations on mindfulness-based interventions are now being undertaken (Good et al., 2015). ...
The article investigates mindfulness mechanisms and leadership attributes as reflected by performing artists. This qualitative study analyses major categories to develop a theoretical framework of mindful leadership development employing performing arts. The present study uses interpretivism to explore respondents’ experiences and unique phenomena. The grounded theory (GT) methodology aided in exploring grounded data and theory construction. Abstract core category ‘immense concentration and self-control’ captured the abstract and inclusive meaning as understood by the participants in this study. The qualitative coding analysis helped explore the data-driven abstract phenomena. Results of the present study exhibited that all performing artists require high concentration and self-control to exemplify mesmerizing Koodiyattam performing arts. Theoretical reflections on the relationships between the relevant categories are provided in depth. The connections of five major categories between mindfulness mechanisms, leadership attributes, motivation components, values and beliefs, and personality dispositions are particularly intriguing.
... Mindful Attention Training (MAT) (Shonin et al., 2014) was developed by B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., who modified the technique for the current study to eliminate any teaching elements explicitly related to compassion, in order to maximally separate the two conditions and avoid overlap with the compassion training of CBCT®. This allowed for examination of any potential differences between an intervention that includes instruction in mindfulness meditation only (MAT), as contrasted to an intervention that includes instruction in both mindfulness meditation and compassion meditation (CBCT®)-although, notably, the study design did not include an intervention condition that provided instruction in compassion meditation without mindfulness meditation. ...
Objectives
Extensive research suggests that short-term meditation interventions may hold therapeutic promise for a wide range of psychosocial outcomes. In response to calls to subject these interventions to more methodologically rigorous tests, a randomized controlled trial tested the effectiveness of a mindfulness meditation intervention and a compassion meditation intervention against an active control in a demographically diverse sample of medically and psychiatrically healthy adults.
Methods
Two hundred and four participants completed a battery of questionnaires to assess psychological experience, participated in a laboratory stress test to measure their biological stress reactivity, and wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) to assess daily behaviors before and after an eight-week intervention (mindfulness meditation intervention, compassion meditation intervention, or health education discussion group).
Results
Neither meditation intervention reliably impacted participants’ subjective psychological experience, biological stress reactivity, or objectively assessed daily behaviors. Furthermore, post hoc moderation analyses found that neither baseline distress nor intervention engagement significantly moderated effects.
Conclusions
Results from this trial—which was methodologically rigorous and powered to detect all but small effects—were essentially null. These results are an important data point for the body of research about meditation interventions. Implications of these non-significant effects are discussed in the context of prior studies, and future directions for contemplative intervention research are recommended.
Clinical Trial Registry
Registry Number: NCT01643369.
... Mindful Attention Training (MAT) (Shonin et al., 2014) was developed by B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., who modified the technique for the current study to eliminate any teaching elements explicitly related to compassion, in order to maximally separate the two conditions and avoid overlap with the compassion training of CBCT®. This allowed for examination of any potential differences between an intervention that includes instruction in mindfulness meditation only (MAT), as contrasted to an intervention that includes instruction in both mindfulness meditation and compassion meditation (CBCT®)-although, notably, the study design did not include an intervention condition that provided instruction in compassion meditation without mindfulness meditation. ...
Objective: Extensive research suggests that short-term meditation interventions may hold therapeutic promise for a wide range of psychosocial outcomes. In response to calls to subject these interventions to more methodologically rigorous tests, a randomized controlled trial tested the effectiveness of a mindfulness meditation intervention and a compassion meditation intervention against an active control in a sample of demographically diverse, medically and psychiatrically healthy adults. Methods: Two hundred and four participants completed a battery of questionnaires to assess psychological experience, participated in a laboratory stress test to measure their biological stress reactivity, and wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) to assess daily behaviors before and after an eight-week intervention (mindfulness meditation intervention, compassion meditation intervention, or health education discussion group). Results: Neither meditation intervention reliably impacted participants’ subjective experience, biological stress reactivity, or objectively assessed daily behaviors. Further, post-hoc moderation analyses found that neither baseline distress nor intervention engagement significantly moderated the effects. Conclusion: Results from this trial – which was methodologically rigorous and powered to detect all but small effects – were essentially null. These results are an important data point for the body of research about meditation interventions. Implications of these non-significant effects are discussed in the context of prior studies, and future directions for contemplative intervention research are recommended.
... Mindfulness at work entails guiding employees through a learning process, individually or together, where they develop a set of capabilities that allow them to tap into the benefits of mindfulness in their everyday work. The key challenge for organizations and their leaders is to ensure that people are motivated and capable to learn and apply mindful work practices (Aikens & al., 2014;Shonin et al., 2014). Our literature review found two major sets of links between individual mindfulness and group level processes and outcomes: individual mindfulness enhances group dynamics and individual level mindfulness also improves leadership processes. ...
en The exponential increase of research on corporate mindfulness in recent years is representative of growing global interest for this topic. However, past research is often presented as conflicting and contradictory. In this paper, we develop an integrative model of corporate mindfulness that establishes links between different streams of research on mindfulness while preserving their differences. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of research on corporate mindfulness in management journals published between 1999 and January 2020 in EBSCO Business Source Premier. A final list of 157 articles was analyzed for this review. Results reveal four types of links at the construct level among studies that are part of the different approaches to corporate mindfulness.
Résumé
fr L'augmentation exponentielle des recherches sur la méditation de pleine conscience en entreprise ces dernières années est représentative de l'intérêt mondial croissant pour ce sujet. Cependant, les recherches antérieures sont souvent présentées comme conflictuelles et contradictoires. Dans cet article, nous développons un modèle intégratif de la méditation de pleine conscience en entreprise qui établit des liens entre différents courants de recherche sur la méditation de pleine conscience tout en préservant leurs différences. À cette fin, nous avons mené une revue systématique de la littérature sur les recherches sur la méditation de pleine conscience en entreprise dans des revues de gestion publiées entre 1999 et janvier 2020 dans la base de données EBSCO Business Source Premier. Une liste finale de 157 articles a été analysée pour cette revue de littérature. Les résultats révèlent quatre types de liens conceptuels parmi les études qui font partie des différentes approches de la méditation de pleine conscience en entreprise.
... Across previous findings, researchers (e.g., Aguilar-Raab et al., 2018;Shonin et al., 2014) have shown that increasing clients' ability to pay and sustain attention helps to reduce suffering. Practicing mindfulness by intentionally focusing on an object can teach clients to stay in the present moment and gain mental distance from negative thoughts and feelings. ...
In its 2000 years of history, Buddhism has deep cultural roots for millions of individuals in the world, which makes it a highly culturally congruent form of indigenous psychology. The original form of Buddhism, known as Early Buddhism, is a comprehensive study of mind with epistemological assumptions on human nature, psychopathology, curative factors, and interventions. However, no treatment model has utilized Buddhism as a stand-alone theoretical orientation. This article introduces the Note, Know, Choose model as a three-phase psychospiritual treatment approach based on Buddhist teaching to train the skillfulness of the mind. In the Note phase, clients learn to develop clarity and stability of mind through various Buddhist mindfulness techniques such as mindful breathing, sustaining attention on different body parts, chanting, or reciting a mantra. Clients develop regular meditative practices throughout the treatment process. The Know phase helps clients to gain insight into how suffering, desire, and craving arise from the mind’s contact with external objects. Therefore, previously neglected choice points are discovered and intervened. The Choose phase focuses on applying the insights that result into daily encounters and fostering the skills needed to make alternative decisions. Techniques such as cultivating a compassionate view of self and others visualizing the nonself are adopted. Overall, the Note, Know, Choose model can serve as an iterative and dynamic process to help reduce clients’ suffering. A case example and a clinical case vignette will illustrate the application of the Note, Know, Choose model in detail.
... Dane and Brummel (2014) found in a sample of service industry workers that mindfulness did indeed have a positive effect on job performance. Likewise, Shonin et al. (2014), found that mindfulness positively affected work performance for middle managers. ...
There has been a proliferation of workplace mindfulness research over the last decade. In an attempt to move the literature forward, our primary recommendation is that scholars begin to consider mindfulness as one of many cognitive states, and that to fully understand its implications, we must evaluate how it relates to other cognitive states in an ongoing stream of consciousness. To do so, this chapter reviews and explores the history of the construct of mindfulness at work, how it is defined, and how it is measured. Additionally, for each of these topics, the chapter explains opportunities to evaluate mindfulness from a broader, temporal
perspective. Mindfulness is one of several cognitive states which are likely to fluctuate from moment-to-moment, including flow, mind-wandering, and rumination/fascination. There is very little understanding of when, how, or why fluctuations among and transitions between these
attentional states occur. This chapter reminds scholars that different states can be either beneficial or harmful, depending on the context of the work situation. As such, we call for additional research that investigates mindfulness, as well as related cognitive states, from a more holistic, temporal perspective. In particular, we discuss opportunities for temporal research grounded in the being versus doing framework, the contingency approach, and in mindfulness intervention processes.
... El concepto de mindfulness está fundamentado en valores budistas, con el énfasis en cambiar los modos de pensar de mindless (sin sentido, sin conciencia) a mindful (con sentido, con conciencia) (7). En psicología, el mindfulness (atención plena) consiste en observar y atender plenamente, sin distracciones ni interpretaciones la respiración, los músculos y zonas del cuerpo, los pensamientos, emociones y conductas (8) Una de las variables psicosociales más investigadas es el estrés laboral, debido al impacto negativo que tiene en la salud de los trabajadores, ya que no solo afecta el rendimiento sino también la salud integral y la calidad de vida, y cuando se convierte en estrés crónico es una fuente generadora de síntomas, síndromes y enfermedades (9). ...
... El concepto de mindfulness está fundamentado en valores budistas, con el énfasis en cambiar los modos de pensar de mindless (sin sentido, sin conciencia) a mindful (con sentido, con conciencia) 7 . En psicología, el mindfulness (atención plena) consiste en observar y atender plenamente, sin distracciones ni interpretaciones la respiración, los músculos y zonas del cuerpo, los pensamientos, emociones y conductas 8 Una de las variables psicosociales más investigadas es el estrés laboral, debido al impacto negativo que tiene en la salud de los trabajadores, ya que no solo afecta el rendimiento sino también la salud integral y la calidad de vida, y cuando se convierte en estrés crónico es una fuente generadora de síntomas, síndromes y enfermedades 9 . ...
Objetivo:
Evaluar el impacto de un programa de mindfulness en el estrés fisiológico, distrés emocional, estrés percibido y estrés laboral en un grupo de trabajadores.
Materiales y métodos:
Participaron 28 trabajadores universitarios (empleados y docentes), quienes habían registrado niveles altos de estrés laboral en una evaluación institucional previa. El programa consistió en seis sesiones de entrenamiento en mindfulness una vez por semana y con dos horas por sesión (12 horas en total), con las técnicas de la atención plena en la respiración, en el cuerpo, pensamiento, emociones y descanso. Se utilizaron mediciones de Biofeedback para evaluar cinco indicadores de estrés fisiológico (temperatura, respiración, pulso, volumen sanguíneo en la piel y presión arterial) y tres pruebas para medir estrés: Inventario de Distrés Emocional Percibido (a = .85), Inventario de Estrés Percibido a = .86), Escala de Estrés Laboral (a = .90), como medidas de pretest y postest.
Resultados:
Volumen sanguíneo en la piel (d = 0.8), pulso sanguíneo (d = 0.8) y frecuencia de la respiración abdominal (d = 0.9), distrés emocional (d = 0.9), el estrés percibido (d = 0.7) y el estrés laboral (d = 0.6).
Conclusión:
El mindfulness tuvo un impacto significativo en la reducción del estrés en trabajadores universitarios.
... Mindfulness is related to lower anxiety (Brown & Ryan, 2003), better job performance (Shonin et al., 2014), and higher job satisfaction (Hulsheger et al., 2013). It also helps one disengage from maladaptive cognitive patterns, further preventing a downward-thinking spiral (Barnhofer et al., 2011). ...
Relationships among workaholism, mindfulness, and negative affect (NA) were examined. Data were collected, through Amazon Mechanical Turk, from 400 working adults in the USA. Workaholism was positively related to weekly hours worked and NA, and mindfulness was negatively related to NA. Additionally, workaholism and weekly hours worked were negatively related to mindfulness. Moreover, mindfulness moderated the relationship between workaholism and NA such that as levels of mindfulness increased, the influence of workaholism on NA decreased. Thus, mindfulness can be developed like a skill through meditation, and it may be established as an intervention for workaholism by reducing the compulsive behavior of workaholics and weakening the relationship with NA.
... A recent systematic review of the impacts of mindfulness on well-being of employees has shown that mindfulness-based training has a positive impact on employees' well-being (Lomas et al. 2017). According to Hülsheger et al. (2013) and Shonin et al. (2014), mindful employees (i.e., employees with better ability to be mindful) tend to be less emotionally exhausted and more satisfied with their job than others. In another study, Hülsheger et al. (2014) examined the role of mindfulness at work in relation to employees' physical and psychological condition. ...
The purpose of this review paper is to present a holistic conceptualization by
synthesizing mindfulness and social sustainability literature and introducing an
integrative mindfulness-social sustainability framework. To this end, we conducted an
extensive review of the mindfulness and social sustainability literature. The findings
revealed that there is a paucity of research that has examined the relationship between
mindfulness and social sustainability. While some recent studies have begun to
explore the role of mindfulness in ecological sustainability, the link between
mindfulness and social sustainability has remained under-researched. This paper
introduces an integrative mindfulness-social sustainability framework that explicates
how mindfulness practice can be employed in the workplace context to achieve social
sustainability outcomes. In this regard, we first discuss how mindfulness is related to
social sustainability at the individual (e.g., employee health and well-being) and
organizational (e.g., ethical behavior, employee performance, workplace spirituality)
levels. Next, we examine how individual and organizational social sustainability might
relate to some wider societal sustainability outcomes (e.g., social justice, collective
social capital). We argue that this is one of the few early theoretical papers that has
investigated the potential connections between two important, albeit fragmented
disciplines – mindfulness and social sustainability. This paper suggests potential
courses of action to address social sustainability challenges by integrating mindfulness
and social sustainability.
... Within the workplace, such concerns are an explicit component of a number of 'second generation mindfulness programmes' in the workplace (King and Badham, 2018b;Shonin et al., 2015). One such programme is the Buddhist-Derived Intervention (BDI) of Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), combining meditative insight, ethical awareness and wisdom concepts and practices (Shonin et al., 2014). ...
This article provides a critical re-view of the literature and studies of mindfulness at work. It offers a constructive and sympathetic yet also reflective and critical problematisation of the field. The re-view documents and examines the contributions of four different orientations towards mindfulness at work. These are as follows: individual mindfulness, collective mindfulness, individual wisdom and collective wisdom. Drawing on these contributions, the article makes the case for an ‘anti-anti mindfulness’. It argues for the self-critical promotion of mindfulness as a vehicle for extending and promoting the insights of organisational studies.
... Other studies have also attempted to explain the relationship between mindfulness and task performance (e.g., Dane, 2011;Jamieson & Tuckey, 2017). These studies provide supportive evidence for the positive relationship between mindfulness and job performance (Atkins, Hassed, & Fogliati, 2015;Dane & Brummel, 2013;Good et al., 2016;Jamieson & Tuckey, 2017;Shonin, Van Gordon, Dunn, Singh, & Griffiths, 2014). There are also some studies indicating that mindfulness and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) are correlated (Reb, Narayan, & Ho, 2015). ...
Aims:
To examine the role of thriving in the relationship between mindfulness and contextual performance.
Background:
Thriving is one of the most important components of nurses' professional development. Also, previous studies have shown that mindfulness and contextual performance have an effective role in workplace. Furthermore, we still know relatively little about the underlying mechanisms that explain the relationship among mindfulness, thriving and contextual performance in a nursing context.
Methods:
Data were collected from nurses from various hospitals in Turkey (N = 398). We used the structural equation modeling to test the mediation model.
Results:
Empirical results indicate that thriving mediates the link between employee mindfulness and contextual performance.
Conclusions:
This study contributes to the existing literature on thriving by explaining the mediating mechanisms through which mindfulness affects contextual performance and contributes to practitioners by showing that employees with higher levels of mindfulness engage in more extra-role behaviors when their thriving is high.
Implications for nursing management:
Managers should pay attention to finding ways to improve mindfulness and thriving in organizations in order to increase nurses' contextual performance.
... Furthermore, loving kind meditations contained vocabulary related to socio-affective processes, with physical sensations concentrated around the heart, and with the feeling of warmth (Przyrembel and Singer, 2018). In a study which used a novel interpretative phenomenological analysis to study the experiences of participants taking part in secularized intervention that adheres to a more traditional Buddhist approach called meditation awareness training (MAT) found that participants with issues of stress and low mood reported significant improvements in psychological well-being (Shonin et al., 2014). In line with these findings, a study by Kok and Singer found that loving-kindness meditation led to the most significant increase in feelings of warmth and positive thoughts about others, whereas observing-thought meditation led to the greatest increase in metacognitive awareness (Kok and Singer, 2017). ...
As an intriguing concept, podcasts have been increasingly popular and one of the fastest-growing media in recent decades. While podcast listening has attracted the growing attention of scholars from a variety of disciplines, no studies to date have explored podcast listening in management literature. In this context, the current study aims to investigate the motivations and consequences of work-related podcast listening in terms of employee wellbeing. Data were collected from 12 academicians from a variety of fields via a semi-structured interview, and thematic analysis was performed using MAXQDA software. The current study demonstrated that (1) academicians have different podcast listening habits in terms of gender, generation, and position; (2) academicians have motives for work-related podcast listening, including information-related motivation, creativity-related motivation, and relaxation-related motivation; and (3) work-related podcast listening is related to different aspects of employee wellbeing, such as hedonic wellbeing, social wellbeing, and eudaimonic wellbeing.
There is a need to better understand what works, for whom, and in what circumstances, in the context of workplace mental well‐being. Among the various interventions used within business settings for employee mental well‐being, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness are two of the most studied empirically. To‐date, there have been no systematic reviews of this specific literature, meaning we presently lack clarity with regard to overall findings and reliability. The purpose of this paper is to provide a refined summary of the interventions, measures, and outcomes, to inform future research and support decision making within corporate organizations. A search of APAPsycArticles, APAPsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Scopus databases from the start of records to June 2024, supplemented by reference list reviews and Google Scholar searches, retrieved 16,018 papers. English language experimental studies of CBT and/or mindfulness interventions for white‐collar private sector employees were eligible. Following duplicate removal and title and abstract reviews, 99 manuscripts were read in full, with 37 papers selected. Seventeen studies delivered CBT and 20 delivered mindfulness. There were 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 8 controlled clinical trials, and 7 single cohort trials. Interventions were delivered in‐person, online and via telephone. Both CBT and mindfulness were associated with improvements in employee mental well‐being, with the evidence for mindfulness more robust. Online interventions typically saw higher rates of participant attrition. We conclude that both CBT and mindfulness can improve mental well‐being among private sector white‐collar employees. However, this finding is not unequivocal. More RCTs would enhance the literature.
Objectives: In this study, mindfulness (MN) and satisfaction of psychological needs (SPN) were considered as structures that protect adolescents’ mental health against social media disorder (SMD). The main purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between MN levels, SPN levels and SMD levels of adolescents and to examine the predictive level of MN and SPN on SMD levels of adolescents. Methods: The model was predictive associational survey model. The sample was consisted of 521 adolescents (Mage: 16,02; SD: 1,16; %37 girls, %67 boys) from the central districts of Izmir province in Turkey. Data were collected by Social Media Disorder Scale, Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale – Adolescents, Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale with a questionnaire to gather demographic information. Results: Results showed that there were negative correlations between mindfulness levels and SMD levels, between the satisfaction of competence need levels and SMD levels. There were positive correlations between the satisfaction of relatedness need levels and the SMD levels. There was no significant relationship between the satisfaction need for autonomy and social media disorder. Mindfulness, satisfaction of competence need and relatedness need together, predict the social media disorder levels of adolescents significantly and they explain 26,1% of the total variance. Conclusion: Mindfulness and competence need satisfaction protect adolescents from social media disorder more than a quarter. However as the need to be related increases, social media disorder increase.
Occupational stress is increasingly recognized as contributing to the deterioration of employees’ productivity and overall performance. Emerging research interest has gained significance in mindfulness in the workplace. Within this body of knowledge, research investigating the effects of mindfulness interventions on employee health and well-being has substantial practical implications for organizations. The current bibliometric study investigates the research landscape of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in the workplace as a breakthrough in occupational stress. The present research study aims to fill the gap in the literature by conducting a scientific and bibliometric mapping of occupational stress in employees, using a methodological trilogy with the application of SMART, Prisma and R bibliometric tools. The analysis focuses on the different trends implanted in using various keywords, authors and journals. A total of N = 642 data consisting of peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from the Scopus database.
Research is carried out based on an average citation of 17.44 per document; the research also shows an average citation of 3.632 per year per document. This study fosters to provide an overview of the trends in journals, popular author keywords, authors and country collaboration with the respective source impact, which helps to provide information for researchers in the field of MBIs at the workplace that will set a futuristic potential to propel further with mindfulness training programmes at workplace, thus mitigating the stress levels and improving the well-being of the employees. Advancing scientific understanding by researching MBIs for occupational stress contributes to the body of knowledge of psychology, organizational behaviour and occupational health.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, Öz Belirleme ve Kaynakların Korunması Kuramı temelinde, bilinçli farkındalık ve çalışan iyi oluşu arasındaki ilişkide psikolojik sermayenin aracılık rolünün incelenmesidir. 210 hemşire gönüllü olarak anket çalışmasına dahil olmuştur. Veriler Process Makrosu kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, bilinçli farkındalığın çalışan iyi oluşunu pozitif yönde yordadığını ve bu iki değişken arasındaki ilişkide psikolojik sermayenin aracı rolü bulunduğunu göstermektedir. Çalışmanın kuramsal sonuçları tartışılmış, uzmanlar ve yöneticiler için önerilerde bulunulmuştur.
Background
Mindfulness-based training programs have consistently shown efficacy in stress reduction. However, questions regarding the optimal duration and most effective delivery methods remain.
Objective
This research explores a 4-week neurofeedback-assisted mindfulness training for employees via a mobile app. The study’s core query is whether incorporating neurofeedback can amplify the benefits on stress reduction and related metrics compared with conventional mindfulness training.
MethodsA total of 92 full-time employees were randomized into 3 groups: group 1 received mobile mindfulness training with neurofeedback assistance (n=29, mean age 39.72 years); group 2 received mobile mindfulness training without neurofeedback (n=32, mean age 37.66 years); and group 3 were given self-learning paper materials on stress management during their first visit (n=31, mean age 38.65 years). The primary outcomes were perceived stress and resilience scales. The secondary outcomes were mindfulness awareness, emotional labor, occupational stress, insomnia, and depression. Heart rate variability and electroencephalography were measured for physiological outcomes. These measurements were collected at 3 different times, namely, at baseline, immediately after training, and at a 4-week follow-up. The generalized estimating equation model was used for data analysis.
ResultsThe 4-week program showed significant stress reduction (Wald χ22=107.167, P
Objectives: Positive effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on occupational health have been demonstrated by several systematic review studies during the last two decades. So far, existing reviews excluded mindfulness-informed interventions (MIIs) that build on informal approaches or mixed techniques aiming at improving mindfulness indirectly. To address this research gap, the present comprehensive meta-analysis synthesizes the results of RCTs of MBIs and MIIs conducted in various workplace settings.
Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in five electronic databases complemented by manual search. Random-effects models were used to synthesize standardized mean differences (SMDs) for 25 outcomes and seven overarching categories of outcomes, and to detect various temporal effects. Meta-regressions were run to elucidate average SMDs between mindfulness intervention types as well as intervention and population characteristics, with the goal of detecting sources of heterogeneity and help guide the selection of the most appropriate mindfulness intervention type.
Results: Based on 91 eligible studies (from 92 publications), including 4,927 participants and 4,448 controls, the synthesis shows that MBIs and MIIs significantly improve mindfulness (SMD=0.43; 95%-CI[0.33;0.52]), well-being (SMD=0.63; 95%-CI[0.34;0.93]), mental health (SMD=0.67; 95%-CI[0.48;0.86]), stress (SMD=0.72; 95%-CI[0.54;0.90]), resilience (SMD=1.06; 95%-CI[-0.22;2.34]), physical health (SMD=0.45; 95%-CI[0.32;0.59]) and work-related factors (SMD=0.62; 95%-CI[0.14;1.10]). Sensitivity analyses demonstrate a tendency towards smaller effect sizes due to extreme outliers. Effect sizes are stable in short-term follow-up assessments (1-12 weeks) for most outcomes, but not for long-term follow-up assessments (13-52 weeks). Meta-regressions suggest that observable intervention characteristics (e.g., online delivery) and population characteristics (e.g., age of participants), as well as study quality do not explain the prevalence of heterogeneity in effect sizes.
Conclusions: Generally effective, mindfulness interventions are a useful tool to enhance aspects of employee health. However, because of heterogeneity and risk of bias, studies aiming at high quality data collection and thorough reporting are necessary to draw firm conclusions.
Introduction
Mindfulness-based interventions have gained more importance in workplace health promotion due to increased psychological distress in the digital era. Although managers in the information communication technology sector (ICT)-sector are at risk for lower mental health, few studies have evaluated the effects of workplace mindfulness trainings (WMT) on upper-level ICT-managers.
Methods
By applying a mixed methods approach, the study aimed at exploring differences in upper-level ICT-managers’ mindfulness, well-being, health literacy and work performance at the beginning of a WMT ( t 0), immediately after ( t 1) and 3 months after ( t 2) a WMT. Thirteen groups of managers ( n = 56) completed the training and three corresponding surveys consecutively from October 2019 to April 2021. Managers rated their mindfulness (MAAS), well-being (WHO-5), health literacy, and work performance (HPQ). During the COVID-19-pandemic the training switched from a live on-site mode to a hybrid mode and finally to a digital mode. Repeated measures ANOVAs and Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc analyses were used for data analysis. Open-ended responses were content analyzed.
Results
We found significant differences in managers’ mindfulness [ F (2.106) = 3.376, p = 0.038, η p ² = 0.06, n = 54], well-being [ F (2.106) = 73.019, p < 0.001, η p ² = 0.17, n = 54], health literacy [ F (2.108) = 9.067, p < 0.001, η p ² = 0.15, n = 55], and work performance [ F (2.80) = 7.008, p = 0.002, η p ² = 0.15, n = 41] between t 0 and t 2. Significant differences between t 0 and t 1 were also found for well-being, health literacy and work performance, but not for mindfulness. Qualitative findings demonstrated positive training effects, barriers and facilitators to daily application of mindfulness practice.
Discussion
The results suggest that compared to the beginning of the WMT, the post and follow-up measurements showed outcome improvements. The workplace mindfulness training may thus be a promising program to facilitate mental health and working capabilities among upper-level ICT-managers. Contextual workplace factors need to be considered to sustain long-term mindfulness practice of managers.
This study explores whether, and how, mindfulness mediates the relationship between spiritual leadership and human engineering. Based on data from a sample of 335 members of faculty and administrative staff from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, the paper provides insights into how mindfulness affects the relationship between spiritual leadership and human engineering. The authors believe that it is the first time that mindfulness as a mediator in this relationship has been studied. They also believe that it is the first time such a study has been conducted in an Arab environment. By studying the relationship between spiritual leadership and human engineering, and by studying mindfulness as a mediating variable in this relationship in a non‐Western environment, the study expands the external validity of the notions of spiritual leadership and human engineering. The results indicate a significant relationship between spiritual leadership and human engineering, and show that mindfulness has an indirect effect on this relationship. The article highlights the implications for dealing with stress in the work environment by using mindfulness as a driver for developing spiritual leadership, as well as understanding and practicing the values of spiritual leadership in promoting spirituality.
‘Mind moment analysis’ is a professional counselling technique rooted in early Buddhist teachings. Employing the process of cognition discussed in Madhupiṇḍika Sutta as its theoretical foundation, mind moment analysis takes form in seven iterative steps for the therapeutic practitioner to help clients deconstruct disturbing mental phenomena, detach from mental turbulence and discern wholesome and unwholesome mind acts. After cultivating stability and clarity of mind, practitioners collaborate with clients to investigate the root causes of craving beneath conceptual proliferations and mindfully choose constructive thoughts, thereby resulting in reduced suffering. This paper introduces the theoretical background of mind moment analysis, uses a case example of this therapeutic intervention with sample transcript verbatim to illustrate each step, and discusses the treatment components of the intervention.
We examine the role of employee mindfulness in the context of highly monotonous work conditions. Integrating research on task monotony with theorizing on mindfulness, we hypothesized that mindfulness is negatively associated with the extent to which employees feel generally bored by their jobs. We further hypothesized that this lower employee boredom would relate to downstream outcomes in the form of job attitudes (job satisfaction and turnover intentions) and task performance. We examined both objective task performance quality and quantity to shed light on the complexity of the mindfulness–task performance relation, which has so far mostly been investigated using subjective supervisor ratings. In a sample of 174 blue‐collar workers in a Mexican company, results showed that employee mindfulness was negatively related to boredom. Further, mindfulness was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively to turnover intentions, partly mediated through boredom. Mindfulness turned out to be a double‐edged sword for task performance in monotonous jobs: Mindfulness was positively related to task performance quality but negatively related to quantity.
Practitioner points
In repetitive, monotonous jobs held by millions of people worldwide, more mindful employees perceive their job as less boring.
Furthermore, mindful employees have higher job satisfaction and are less likely to quit.
With regard to objective job performance, mindfulness can be a double‐edged sword: It positively affects objective performance quality via boredom, but negatively affects objective performance quantity directly.
Contemplative psychology is concerned with the psychological study of contemplative processes and practices, such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, introspection, reflection, metacognition, self-regulation, self-awareness, and self-consciousness. Although contemplative psychology borders with other psychological and nonpsychological disciplines, some of its underlying assumptions distinguish it from other remits of psychological and scholarly inquiry, as do its component areas of empirical focus, conceptual nuances, and challenges. Furthermore, the discipline has tended to be somewhat disparate in its approach to investigating the core techniques and principles of which it is composed, resulting in a need for greater intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary awareness of the commonalities and differences of core contemplative psychology attributes. As a remedy to these issues, in this article, we adopt a whole-discipline perspective and aim to explicate contemplative psychology’s history, breadth, key assumptions, challenges, and future directions.
Evidence indicating the relationship between trauma and substance use disorders (SUDs), in addition to relapse and treatment retention rates for this population, suggests there is a need for a trauma-focused solution to treat SUDs. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has been studied extensively as an effective approach for treating trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The research evaluating its treatment for other mental health disorders such as SUDs is promising. Merging mindfulness and ethical mindfulness practices with EMDR therapy lends additional evidence-based elements to make the case for this integrative system of treatment to be studied as a trauma-focused primary psychotherapy to treat SUDs. The resulting treatment, the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies), has been created to address the need for a trauma-focused solution to treat SUDs. Procedures of the MET(T)A Protocol as applied in each of the 8 phases of EMDR therapy are described in detail. Clinical examples are provided to explain the application of the MET(T)A Protocol.
Social identity processes and mindfulness are two important predictors of well‐being. Yet, to date, these predictors have been studied independently, within separate research fields. This paper aims to provide an initial integration of these two research fields. Our research was conducted in a context characterized by multiple chronic stressors: A maximum security prison in Kenya. In particular, two studies measured social identification with a mindfulness group and dispositional mindfulness. We investigated the effects of these constructs on three well‐being measures: mental well‐being, resilience (Studies 1 & 2), and reduction of substance use (Study 2). Our results, replicated across two studies (Study 1: N = 82, Study 2: N = 145), revealed that both social identification with the mindfulness group and mindfulness predicted psychological outcomes. Social identification explained variance in mental well‐being and resilience in addition to the variance explained by mindfulness. Study 2 additionally showed that both identification and mindfulness were positively related to a reduction in substance use. However, when examined together, social identification held all the explanatory power, and mindfulness was no longer a significant predictor. From the overall results, we argue that social identity processes can be fruitfully combined with mindfulness in well‐being programs delivered in high‐stress environments such as prisons. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Objectives
Given the complex demands of many workplaces, there is growing interest in the potential beneficial effects of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) for employees. This meta-analysis systematically synthesizes the results of randomized controlled studies conducted in various workplace settings.Methods
Eligible studies were identified by a systematic literature search in four electronic databases and complementary manual search strategies through 11/2018. Random-effects models were used to synthesize data across 56 studies including n = 2689 participants and n = 2472 controls. The validity of synthesized effect size estimates was analyzed for heterogeneity and influential cases (outliers). Risk of bias was assessed following Cochrane recommendations.ResultsAnalyses of between-group effects indicated that MBPs effectively reduce stress, burnout, mental distress, and somatic complaints, while improving mindfulness, well-being, compassion, and job satisfaction—all with small to large effect sizes ranging from Hedge’s g = 0.32 to 0.77. Results were maintained in follow-up assessments ≤ 12 weeks. Heterogeneity among primary studies was not explained consistently by program or participant characteristics in the exploratory moderator analyses. Results on work engagement and productivity were limited by low numbers of primary studies with outliers among their effect sizes.Conclusions
Our meta-analysis provides evidence that MBPs effectively promote the health and well-being of employees in various occupational settings. Further research is needed to investigate potential benefits on work-related outcomes and effects for longer-term follow-ups.
Current workplace mindfulness research and interventions assume that teaching mindfulness will have beneficial effects for people and organizations. While research shows that mindfulness trainings may increase resilience of working adults, assuming that mindfulness will have independent effects on outcomes at different levels of an organization is not well grounded. We assert that mindfulness training would, however, be beneficial for organizations when tailored to that context and shaped by an understanding of organizational theory and practice. We also envisage mindfulness as a beneficial property of teams, organizations and the individuals who constitute them. To close the evidence gap we propose building multi-level models of mindfulness in organizations, broadening training programs, and developing a novel competency framework for teachers in this context.Highlights •Mindfulness improves resilience in working adults, but evidence for other work context outcomes such as performance is inconsistent. •Mindfulness interventions which also focus on team and organizational processes may be more effective than mindfulness alone•Research should be guided by multilevel models that offer explanations based on interactions between mindfulness and key organizational factors. •To ensure high quality training for mindfulness in organizations we propose the development of a competency framework for trainers•Mindful and compassionate leadership should facilitate team and organizational mindfulness.
In the last five years, scientific interest into the potential applications of Buddhist-derived interventions
(BDIs) for the treatment of problem gambling has been growing. This paper reviews current directions, proposes
conceptual applications, and discusses integration issues relating to the utilisation of BDIs as problem gambling
treatments. Method:Aliterature search and evaluation of the empirical literature for BDIs as problem gambling treatments was undertaken. Results: To date, research has been limited to cross-sectional studies and clinical case studies and findings indicate that Buddhist-derived mindfulness practices have the potential to play an important role in ameliorating problem gambling symptomatology. As an adjunct to mindfulness, other Buddhist-derived practices are also of interest including: (i) insight meditation techniques (e.g., meditation on ‘emptiness’) to overcome avoidance and dissociation strategies, (ii) ‘antidotes’ (e.g., patience, impermanence, etc.) to attenuate impulsivity and salience- related issues, (iii) loving-kindness and compassion meditation to foster positive thinking and reduce conflict, and (iv) ‘middle-way’ principles and ‘bliss-substitution’ to reduce relapse and temper withdrawal symptoms. In addition to an absence of controlled treatment studies, the successful operationalisation of BDIs as effective treatments for problem gambling may be impeded by issues such as a deficiency of suitably experienced BDI clinicians, and the poor provision by service providers of both BDIs and dedicated gambling interventions. Conclusions: Preliminary findings for BDIs as problem gambling treatments are promising, however, further research is required.
Mindfulness has been practiced in the Eastern world for over twenty-five centuries but has only recently become popular in the West. Today, interventions such as “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” are used within the
Western health setting and have proven to be successful techniques for reducing psychological distress. However, a limitation of such interventions is that they tend to apply the practices of mindfulness in an “out of context” manner. To overcome this, a newly formed Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) program focusses on the establishment of solid meditative foundations and integrates various support practices that are traditionally assumed to effectuate a more sustainable quality of well-being. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of MAT for improving psychological well-being in a sub-clinical sample of higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Utilizing a controlled design, participants of the study (n=14) undertook an 8-week MAT program and comparisons were made with a
control group (n=11) on measures of self-assessed psychological well-being (emotional distress, positive affect, and negative affect) and dispositional mindfulness. Participants who received MAT showed significant improvements in psychological well-being and dispositional mindfulness over controls. MAT may increase emotion regulation ability in higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Individuals receiving training in mindfulness meditation may benefit by engendering a broader, more ethically informed, and
compassionate intention for their mindfulness practice.
Work-related mental health issues such as work-related stress and addiction to work impose a significant health and economic burden to the employee, the employing organization, and the country of work more generally. Interventions that can be empirically shown to improve levels of work-related mental health—especially those with the potential to concurrently improve employee levels of work performance—are of particular interest to occupational stakeholders. One such broad-application interventional approach currently of interest to occupational stakeholders in this respect is mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Following a brief explication of the mindfulness construct, this paper critically discusses current research directions in the utilization of mindfulness in workplace settings and assesses its suitability for operationalization as an organization-level work-related mental health intervention. By effecting a perceptual-shift in the mode of responding and relating to sensory and cognitive-affective stimuli, employees that undergo mindfulness training may be able to transfer the locus of control for stress from external work conditions to internal metacognitive and attentional resources. Therefore, MBIs may constitute cost-effective organization-level interventions due to not actually requiring any modifications to human resource management systems and practises. Based on preliminary empirical findings and on the outcomes of MBI studies with clinical populations, it is concluded that MBIs appear to be viable interventional options for organizations wishing to improve the mental health of their employees.
Research into the clinical utility of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs) has increased greatly over the last decade. Although clinical interest has predominantly focused on mindfulness meditation, there also has been an increase in the scientific investigation of interventions that integrate other Buddhist principles such as compassion, loving kindness, and “non-self.” However, due to the rapidity at which Buddhism has been assimilated into the mental health setting, issues relating to the misapplication of Buddhist terms and practices have sometimes arisen. Indeed, hitherto, there has been no unified system for the effective clinical operationalization of Buddhist principles. Therefore, this paper aims to establish robust foundations for the ongoing clinical implementation of Buddhist principles by providing: (i) succinct and accurate interpretations of Buddhist terms and principles that have become embedded into the clinical practice literature, (ii) an overview of current directions in the clinical operationalization of BDIs, and (iii) an assessment of BDI clinical integration issues. It is concluded that BDIs may be effective treatments for a variety of psychopathologies including mood-spectrum disorders, substance-use disorders, and schizophrenia. However, further research and clinical evaluation is required to strengthen the evidence-base for existent interventions and for establishing new treatment applications. More important, there is a need for greater dialogue between Buddhist teachers and mental health clinicians and researchers to safeguard the ethical values, efficacy, and credibility of BDIs.
The Job Descriptive Index family of job attitude measures includes the Job in General (JIG) scale, a measure of global satisfaction with one’s job. The scale was originally developed and validated by Ironson, Smith, Brannick, Gibson, and Paul. Following structured scale reduction procedures developed by Stanton, Sinar, Balzer, and Smith, the current authors developed an abridged version of the JIG for use by practitioners and researchers of organizational behavior. They report the results of three validation studies documenting the process of scale reduction and the psychometric suitability of the reduced-length scale.
Interest into the rehabilitative utility of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs) for incarcerated populations has been growing. The present paper systematically reviews the evidence for BDIs in correctional settings. Five databases were systematically searched. Controlled intervention studies of BDIs that utilized incarcerated samples were included. Jadad scoring was used to evaluate methodological quality. PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis) guidelines were followed. The initial search yielded 85 papers, but only eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The eight eligible studies comprised two mindfulness studies, four vipassana meditation studies, and two studies utilizing other BDIs. Intervention participants demonstrated significant improvements across five key criminogenic variables: (i) negative affect, (ii) substance use (and related attitudes), (iii) anger and hostility, (iv) relaxation capacity, and (v) self-esteem and optimism. There were a number of major quality issues. It is concluded that BDIs may be feasible and effective rehabilitative interventions for incarcerated populations. However, if the potential suitability and efficacy of BDIs for prisoner populations is to be evaluated in earnest, it is essential that methodological rigor is substantially improved. Studies that can overcome the ethical issues relating to randomization in correctional settings and employ robust randomized controlled trial designs are favored.
During 2012, over 500 scientific articles on mindfulness were published. This was more than the total number of mindfulness articles published between 1980 and 2000. A recent survey by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) found that 75% of general practitioners in the UK believe that mindfulness is beneficial for patients with mental health problems (MHF, 2010). Indeed, recent findings indicate that Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may be effective treatments for a broad range of psychological disorders and somatic illnesses (e.g., Chiesa and Serretti, 2011; Fjorback et al., 2011). Given the recent growth of interest into the clinical utility of mindfulness, an appraisal of the empirical evidence and discussion of issues that impact upon the ethical standing and credibility of MBIs is timely.
"Purpose: In the last five years, scientific interest into the potential applications of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs) for the treatment of problem gambling has been growing. This paper reviews current directions, proposes conceptual applications, and discusses integration issues relating to the utilisation of BDIs as problem gambling treatments. Method: A literature search and evaluation of the empirical literature for BDIs as problem gambling treatments was undertaken. Results: To date, research has been limited to cross-sectional studies and clinical case studies and findings indicate that Buddhist-derived mindfulness practices have the potential to play an important role in ameliorating problem gambling symptomatology. As an adjunct to mindfulness, other Buddhist-derived practices are also of interest including: (i) insight meditation techniques (e.g., meditation on ‘emptiness’) to overcome avoidance and dissociation strategies, (ii) ‘antidotes’ (e.g., patience, impermanence, etc.) to attenuate impulsivity and salience-related issues, (iii) loving-kindness and compassion meditation to foster positive thinking and reduce conflict, and (iv) ‘middle-way’ principles and ‘bliss-substitution’ to reduce relapse and temper withdrawal symptoms. In addition to an absence of controlled treatment studies, the successful operationalisation of BDIs as effective treatments for problem gambling may be impeded by issues such as a deficiency of suitably experienced BDI clinicians, and the poor provision by service providers of both BDIs and dedicated gambling interventions. Conclusions: Preliminary findings for BDIs as problem gambling treatments are promising, however, further research is required."
Mindfulness has been practiced in the Eastern world for over twenty-five centuries but has only recently
become popular in the West. Today, interventions such as “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” are used within the Western health setting and have proven to be successful techniques for reducing psychological distress. However, a limitation of such interventions is that they tend to apply the
practices of mindfulness in an “out of context” manner. To overcome this, a newly formed Meditation Awareness Training (MAT) program focusses on the establishment of solid meditative foundations and integrates various support practices that are traditionally assumed to effectuate a more sustainable quality of well-being. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of MAT for improving psychological well-being in a sub-clinical sample of higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Utilizing a controlled design, participants of the study (n=14) undertook an 8-week MAT program and comparisons were made with a control group (n=11) on measures of self-assessed psychological well-being (emotional distress, positive affect, and negative
affect) and dispositional mindfulness. Participants who received MAT showed significant improvements in psychological well-being and dispositional mindfulness over controls. MAT may increase emotion regulation ability in higher education students with issues of stress, anxiety, and low mood. Individuals receiving training in mindfulness meditation may benefit by engendering a broader, more ethically informed, and compassionate intention for their mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness-based interventions are reported as being efficacious treatments for a variety of psychological and somatic conditions. However, concerns have arisen relating to how mindfulness is operationalized in mindfulness-based interventions and whether its 'spiritual essence' and full potential treatment efficacy have remained intact. This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine participant experiences regarding the acceptability and effectiveness of a newly designed secularized intervention called meditation awareness training (MAT) that follows a more traditional Buddhist approach to meditation. Participants (with issues of stress and low mood) reported experiencing improvements in psychological well-being due to receiving MAT. The wider implications are discussed.
Work motivation represents one of the more enigmatic topics in work and organizational science. This chapter is designed to provide structure for the topic of work motivation to help understand its complexity, identify major themes and future research directions, and present editors' thoughts on potential practical utility of this work. Scientific advances during the 20th century greatly improved our knowledge about the determinants, processes, and consequences of motivation related to work. Programs of research guided by expectancy-value theories, self-regulation and goal-setting formulations, social exchange and justice approaches, and self perspectives (e.g., self-determination theory), in turn, stimulated the development of new organizational and managerial practices to promote positive worker attitudes and enhance job performance. Yet a quick perusal of the popular literature suggests that developing and maintaining a motivated workforce remains a major challenge in contemporary organizations. Why, in the face of so much progress, is the successful management of worker motivation so elusive? There have been attempts to describe motivation theory in ways managers can understand; however, in this chapter the proposition is put forth that the principal reason for this state of affairs lies not (as is often suggested) in a basic disconnect between theory and practice, but rather in the complexity of the problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Most of the extant literature investigating the health effects of mindfulness interventions relies on wait-list control comparisons. The current article specifies and validates an active control condition, the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), thus providing the foundation necessary for rigorous investigations of the relative efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and for testing mindfulness as an active ingredient. 63 participants were randomized to either MBSR (n = 31) or HEP (n = 32). Compared to HEP, MBSR led to reductions in thermal pain ratings in the mindfulness- but not the HEP-related instruction condition (η(2) = .18). There were significant improvements over time for general distress (η(2) = .09), anxiety (η(2) = .08), hostility (η(2) = .07), and medical symptoms (η(2) = .14), but no effects of intervention. Practice was not related to change. HEP is an active control condition for MBSR while remaining inert to mindfulness. These claims are supported by results from a pain task. Participant-reported outcomes (PROs) replicate previous improvements to well-being in MBSR, but indicate that MBSR is no more effective than a rigorous active control in improving these indices. These results emphasize the importance of using an active control condition like HEP in studies evaluating the effectiveness of MBSR.
Objective. To assess the effect of meditation on work stress, anxiety and mood in full-time workers. Methods. 178 adult workers participated in an 8-week, 3-arm randomized controlled trial comparing a “mental silence” approach to meditation (n = 59) to a “relaxation” active control (n = 56) and a wait-list control (n = 63). Participants were assessed before and after using Psychological Strain Questionnaire (PSQ), a subscale of the larger Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), the State component of the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI), and the depression-dejection (DD) subscale of the Profile of Mood States (POMS).
Results. There was a significant improvement for the meditation group compared to both the relaxation control and the wait-list groups the PSQ (P = .026), and DD (P = .019). Conclusions. Mental silence-orientated meditation, in this case Sahaja Yoga meditation, is a safe and effective strategy for dealing with work stress and depressive feelings. The findings suggest that “thought reduction” or “mental silence” may have specific effects relevant to work stress and hence occupational health.
The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement is used worldwide to improve the reporting of randomized, controlled trials. Schulz and colleagues describe the latest version, CONSORT 2010, which updates the reporting guideline based on new methodological evidence and accumulating experience.
In the UK the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards (MS) work-related stress Indicator Tool is the standard measure that organizations use to assess workplace stress. However, no in-depth analysis has been performed to test the psychometric properties of this scale. The current study is the first to examine the factor structure of the HSE MS Indicator Tool using organizational-level data. Data collected from 39 organizations (N = 26,382) was used to perform a first-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the original 35-item seven-factor measurement scale. The results showed an acceptable fit to the data for the instrument. A second-order CFA was also performed to test if the Indicator Tool contains a higher order uni-dimensional measure of work-related stress. These findings also revealed an acceptable fit to the data, suggesting that it may be possible to derive a single measure of work-related stress.
There is concern about lack of consistency in the design of case definitions used to measure work-related stress in national workforce surveys and the implications of this for the reliability and validity of prevalence estimates as well as for developments in policy and practice on tackling work-related stress.
To examine associations between case definitions used for the measurement of work-related stress in nationally representative workforce surveys and the prevalence rates generated.
The study focused on 18 nationally representative workforce surveys conducted between 1995 and 2008 that involved British samples. The published report from each survey was scrutinized for evidence of the case definition used to measure work-related stress and the associated prevalence rate.
Several types of case definition were identified that differed in terms of their theoretical basis, structure, and content. Each was associated with a unique range of prevalence rates.
The results illustrate the challenge presented to the production of valid and reliable estimates of the scale of work-related stress by inconsistent case definition design. The imperative for theory-based consistency in the design of case definitions used for the measurement of work-related stress in national workforce surveys is highlighted.
This study introduces a theory-based measure of employee performance (Role Based Performance Scale, RBPS) that is supported with results from a validation study using 10 data sets from six companies. In contrast to traditional, job-related measures of employee performance, we propose an alternative measure of performance based on role theory and identity theory. Because our results support the validity of the scale, we think that the instrument can be used for future research that requires a generalizable measure of performance. The scale demonstrates diagnostic properties that make it useful for practitioners as well as researchers.
Primary care physicians report high levels of distress, which is linked to burnout, attrition, and poorer quality of care. Programs to reduce burnout before it results in impairment are rare; data on these programs are scarce.
To determine whether an intensive educational program in mindfulness, communication, and self-awareness is associated with improvement in primary care physicians' well-being, psychological distress, burnout, and capacity for relating to patients.
Before-and-after study of 70 primary care physicians in Rochester, New York, in a continuing medical education (CME) course in 2007-2008. The course included mindfulness meditation, self-awareness exercises, narratives about meaningful clinical experiences, appreciative interviews, didactic material, and discussion. An 8-week intensive phase (2.5 h/wk, 7-hour retreat) was followed by a 10-month maintenance phase (2.5 h/mo).
Mindfulness (2 subscales), burnout (3 subscales), empathy (3 subscales), psychosocial orientation, personality (5 factors), and mood (6 subscales) measured at baseline and at 2, 12, and 15 months.
Over the course of the program and follow-up, participants demonstrated improvements in mindfulness (raw score, 45.2 to 54.1; raw score change [Delta], 8.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.0 to 10.8); burnout (emotional exhaustion, 26.8 to 20.0; Delta = -6.8; 95% CI, -4.8 to -8.8; depersonalization, 8.4 to 5.9; Delta = -2.5; 95% CI, -1.4 to -3.6; and personal accomplishment, 40.2 to 42.6; Delta = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.6); empathy (116.6 to 121.2; Delta = 4.6; 95% CI, 2.2 to 7.0); physician belief scale (76.7 to 72.6; Delta = -4.1; 95% CI, -1.8 to -6.4); total mood disturbance (33.2 to 16.1; Delta = -17.1; 95% CI, -11 to -23.2), and personality (conscientiousness, 6.5 to 6.8; Delta = 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1 to 5 and emotional stability, 6.1 to 6.6; Delta = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3 to 0.7). Improvements in mindfulness were correlated with improvements in total mood disturbance (r = -0.39, P < .001), perspective taking subscale of physician empathy (r = 0.31, P < .001), burnout (emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment subscales, r = -0.32 and 0.33, respectively; P < .001), and personality factors (conscientiousness and emotional stability, r = 0.29 and 0.25, respectively; P < .001).
Participation in a mindful communication program was associated with short-term and sustained improvements in well-being and attitudes associated with patient-centered care. Because before-and-after designs limit inferences about intervention effects, these findings warrant randomized trials involving a variety of practicing physicians.
Meditative techniques are sought frequently by patients coping with medical and psychological problems. Because of their increasingly widespread appeal and use, and the potential for use as medical therapies, a concise and thorough review of the current state of scientific knowledge of these practices as medical interventions was conducted.
To systematically review the evidence supporting efficacy and safety of meditative practices in treating illnesses, and examine areas warranting further study. Studies on normal healthy populations are not included.
Searches were performed using PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Database. Keywords were Meditation, Meditative Prayer, Yoga, Relaxation Response. Qualifying studies were reviewed and independently rated based on quality by two reviewers. Mid-to-high-quality studies (those scoring above 0.65 or 65% on a validated research quality scale) were included.
From a total of 82 identified studies, 20 randomized controlled trials met our criteria. The studies included 958 subjects total (397 experimentally treated, 561 controls). No serious adverse events were reported in any of the included or excluded clinical trials. Serious adverse events are reported in the medical literature, though rare. The strongest evidence for efficacy was found for epilepsy, symptoms of the premenstrual syndrome and menopausal symptoms. Benefit was also demonstrated for mood and anxiety disorders, autoimmune illness, and emotional disturbance in neoplastic disease.
The results support the safety and potential efficacy of meditative practices for treating certain illnesses, particularly in nonpsychotic mood and anxiety disorders. Clear and reproducible evidence supporting efficacy from large, methodologically sound studies is lacking.
Adequate reporting of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) is necessary to allow accurate critical appraisal of the validity and applicability of the results. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement, a 22-item checklist and flow diagram, is intended to address this problem by improving the reporting of RCTs. However, some specific issues that apply to trials of nonpharmacologic treatments (for example, surgery, technical interventions, devices, rehabilitation, psychotherapy, and behavioral intervention) are not specifically addressed in the CONSORT Statement. Furthermore, considerable evidence suggests that the reporting of nonpharmacologic trials still needs improvement. Therefore, the CONSORT group developed an extension of the CONSORT Statement for trials assessing nonpharmacologic treatments. A consensus meeting of 33 experts was organized in Paris, France, in February 2006, to develop an extension of the CONSORT Statement for trials of nonpharmacologic treatments. The participants extended 11 items from the CONSORT Statement, added 1 item, and developed a modified flow diagram. To allow adequate understanding and implementation of the CONSORT extension, the CONSORT group developed this elaboration and explanation document from a review of the literature to provide examples of adequate reporting. This extension, in conjunction with the main CONSORT Statement and other CONSORT extensions, should help to improve the reporting of RCTs performed in this field.
Book synopsis: This ground-breaking textbook is the first to cover the new and rapidly developing field of occupational health psychology.
Provides a thorough introduction to occupational health psychology and an accessible overview of the key themes in research and practice
Each chapter relates to an aspect of the core education curriculum delineated by the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology
Written by internationally recognized experts in the field
Examines a host of contemporary workplace health issues, including work-related stress; the psychosocial work environment; positive psychology and employee well-being; psychosocial risk management; workspace design; organizational research methods; and corporate culture and health
The nature of the world in which mammals have evolved has resulted in an attentional system that is highly selective. It is obvious that natural environments consist of multiple objects, most of which also contain many different attributes. For example, a walk down a typical high street bombards us with a variety of sounds, colours, and odours. In addition to these external objects, there may also be a range of competing internal thoughts that occupy our minds. Because of this huge variety of stimuli, it seems clear that the ability to efficiently select and focus on currently relevant information is critical for coherent behaviour. In addition, it would also seem to be adaptive to rapidly notice stimuli that may pose a danger. For instance, it is important to notice the predator or potential mugger lurking in the nearby bushes. Therefore, in addition to the necessity for selection of relevant objects and thoughts, an efficient attentional system must also be open and flexible to stimuli that may represent a threat. Thus, there may well be a subset of stimuli that has privileged access to the attentional system. In addition to certain classes of stimuli that may be especially salient in terms of attracting attentional resources (e.g., snakes, spiders, angry facial expressions, etc.), there may be groups of individuals who are particularly sensitive to threat-related stimuli. Indeed, anxiety has often been characterized as the quintessential example of a hypervigilant attentional system.
Introduction The main emphasis of this chapter is on the personality dimension of trait anxiety, which is concerned with individual differences in the tendency to experience anxiety and related negative emotional states. There is general agreement among personality researchers and theorists that trait anxiety (or neuroticism) is one of the most important personality dimensions. Most researchers focusing on the structure of human personality (e.g. McCrae & Costa, 1985) accept there are five main personality dimensions or factors (often called the Big Five), of which neuroticism or trait anxiety is one. Thus, there is considerable consensus at the level of description. Note that the terms ‘trait anxiety’ and ‘neuroticism’ will be used more or less interchangeably in what follows. This is justifiable for two reasons. First, the two personality dimensions typically correlate about +0.7 with each other (H. J. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985; the name ‘Eysenck’ on its own refers to the author of this chapter). Second, there is considerable evidence that trait anxiety and neuroticism are both relatively pure measures of a broad personality dimension known as negative affectivity (Watson & Clark, 1984). However, it should be noted that neuroticism is typically orthogonal to the personality dimension of extraversion, whereas there is a small negative correlation between trait anxiety and extraversion (H. J. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). There has been significantly less progress at the level of explanation than at the level of description. In other words, the nature of the mechanisms underlying individual differences in trait anxiety or neuroticism remain unclear. Some of the main theoretical approaches are discussed in this section. Thereafter, the emphasis will be on a theory of trait anxiety proposed by Eysenck (1997). © Cambridge University Press 2004 and Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Adequate reporting of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) is necessary to allow accurate critical appraisal of the validity and applicability of the results. The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement, a 22-item checklist and flow diagram, is intended to address this problem by improving the reporting of RCTs. However, some specific issues that apply to trials of nonpharmacologic treatments (for example, surgery, technical interventions, devices, rehabilitation, psychotherapy, and behavioral intervention) are not specifically addressed in the CONSORT Statement. Furthermore, considerable evidence suggests that the reporting of nonpharmacologic trials still needs improvement. Therefore, the CONSORT group developed an extension of the CONSORT Statement for trials assessing nonpharmacologic treatments. A consensus meeting of 33 experts was organized in Paris, France, in February 2006, to develop an extension of the CONSORT Statement for trials of nonpharmacologic treatments. The participants extended 11 items from the CONSORT Statement, added 1 item, and developed a modified flow diagram. To allow adequate understanding and implementation of the CONSORT extension, the CONSORT group developed this elaboration and explanation document from a review of the literature to provide examples of adequate reporting. This extension, in conjunction with the main CONSORT Statement and other CONSORT extensions, should help to improve the reporting of RCTs performed in this field.
Although the concept of mindfulness has attracted scholarly attention across multiple disciplines, research on mindfulness in the field of management remains limited. In particular, little research in this field has examined the nature of mindfulness and whether it relates to task performance in organizational and occupational settings. Filling these gaps, the present article delineates mindfulness by (a) defining it as a state of consciousness in which attention is focused on present-moment phenomena occurring both externally and internally, (b) comparing it to a range of other attention-related concepts, and (c) developing theory concerning the factors that determine when mindfulness is beneficial versus costly from a task performance standpoint.
There are numerous methods for reducing obesity; however, often none of these methods prove effective for specific individuals. For individuals who have failed on specific diets and other weight loss programs, finding a good match between their needs and an effective method is often difficult. The authors collaboratively developed a multicomponent mindfulness-based health wellness program with an individual who was morbidly obese and wanted a lifestyle change. The components included physical exercise, a food awareness program, mindful eating to manage rapid eating, visualizing and labeling hunger, and a mindfulness procedure as a self-control strategy. The individual reduced his weight from 315 pounds to 171 pounds, increased his physical activity, ate healthy foods, stopped eating rapidly, substantially reduced serious medical risk factors, eliminated physical discomfort and mobility problems due to his weight, and enhanced his lifestyle over almost a 5-year period. He maintained his health wellness during 12 months of follow-up.
Objective
Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a standardized meditation program which has been proposed as a therapeutic option for the prevention of relapses in patients suffering from major depression (MD). The aim of the present review and meta-analysis is to provide an estimate of the efficacy of MBCT for MD patients.
Methods
A literature search was undertaken using MEDLINE, ISI web of knowledge, the Cochrane database, Google scholar and references of retrieved articles. Controlled studies investigating the efficacy of MBCT for MD were entered in the Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager Software (RevMan version 5.0).
Results
Reviewed data showed that MBCT in adjunct to usual care was significantly better than usual care alone for reducing MD relpases in patients with 3 or more past episodes of MD. MBCT plus gradual discontinuation of maintenance antidepressants was similar to continuation of antidepressants alone with respect to relapse prevention. The augmentation of MBCT could be useful for patients with current residual symptoms of depression as well.
Conclusions
Current studies showed preliminary evidence about the efficacy of MBCT for patients with 3 or more past episodes of depression and for currently depressed patients with residual symptoms. However, methodological shortcomings of reviewed studies including small sample size, frequent lack of replications and the absence of studies comparing MBCT to control groups designed to distinguish specific from non specific effects of meditation imply the necessity for further research.
The central role of line managers in implementing human resource management, is widely acknowledged. There has, however, been scant research into how far that group affect, or are affected by, such practices. Through a case study in two Trust hospitals, this article demonstrates that middle line managers, positioned between the service’s decision-making bodies and its employees, are bearing many of the consequences of the change process. The effects of growing workloads, combined with altered expectations of their increasingly visible roles, have enhanced the tensions and role conflict inherent to their position. This creates “role dissonance” for managers who must balance the various aspects of their work from a weak power base, and act as a buffer between their staff and their seniors. Their perception is that they are under-resourced and lack the time needed to manage their staff effectively.
We have developed a low dose Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI-ld) that reduces the time committed to meetings and formal mindfulness practice, while conducting the sessions during the workday. This reduced the barriers commonly mentioned for non-participation in mindfulness programs. In a controlled randomized trial we studied university faculty and staff (n=186) who were found to have an elevated CRP level,>3.0mg/ml, and who either had, or were at risk for cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to evaluate if MBI-ld could produce a greater decrease in CRP, IL-6 and cortisol than an active control group receiving a lifestyle education program when measured at the end of the 2month interventions. We found that MBI-ld significantly enhanced mindfulness by 2-months and it was maintained for up to a year when compared to the education control. No significant changes were noted between interventions in cortisol, IL-6 levels or self-reported measures of perceived stress, depression and sleep quality at 2-months. Although not statistically significant (p=.08), the CRP level at 2-months was one mg/ml lower in the MBI-ld group than in the education control group, a change which may have clinical significance (Ridker et al., 2000; Wassel et al., 2010). A larger MBI-ld effect on CRP (as compared to control) occurred among participants who had a baseline BMI <30 (-2.67mg/ml) than for those with BMI >30 (-0.18mg/ml). We conclude that MBI-ld should be more fully investigated as a low-cost self-directed complementary strategy for decreasing inflammation, and it seems most promising for non-obese subjects.
Mindfulness is the latest addition to the armamentarium of cognitive behavioral therapists. Mindfulness methods from the wisdom traditions, as well as from current psychological theories, are beginning to be used as cognitive behavioral strategies for alleviating psychological distress and for personal transformation. The use of mindfulness as a clinical tool is in its infancy, with attendant growing pains in theory, research and practice. We briefly discuss the historical context of the use of mindfulness, recent developments in theory, research and practice, and future developments. We conclude that mindfulness shows a lot of promise as a clinical treatment modality, but there are inherent pitfalls in the developing approaches.
Purpose
This study attempts to investigate: the effect of meditation experience on employees' self‐directed learning (SDL) readiness and organizational innovative (OI) ability as well as organizational performance (OP); and the relationships among SDL, OI, and OP.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study of 15 technological companies ( n =412) in Taiwan is conducted, utilizing the collected survey data to test the relationships among the three dimensions.
Findings
The results show that: the employees' meditation experience significantly and positively influenced employees' SDL readiness, companies' OI capability and OP; and the study found that SDL has a direct and significant impact on OI, and that OI has direct and significant influences on OP.
Research limitations/implications
The generalization of the present study is constrained by: the existence of possible biases of the participants; the variations of length, type, and form of meditation demonstrated by the employees in these high tech companies; and the fact that local data collection in Taiwan may present different cultural characteristics which may be quite different from those in other areas or countries. Managerial implications are presented at the end of the work.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that SDL can only impact organizational innovation through employees openness to a challenge, inquisitive nature, self‐understanding, and acceptance of responsibility for learning. Such finding implies better OI capability under such conditions, thus organizations may encourage employees to take risks or accept new opportunities through various incentives, such as monetary rewards or public recognitions. More specifically, the present study discovers that while administration innovation is the most important element influencing an organization's financial performance, market innovation is the key component in an organization's market performance.
Social implications
The present study discovers that meditation experience positively affects SDL readiness, and OI ability and performance. The finding implies spiritual practice improves individual capability (i.e. in learning), as well as organizational capability (i.e. in innovativeness), which consequently enhances the outcomes of organizations.
Originality/value
Existing studies prove the benefits of meditation on both spiritual enlightenment and clinical psychology. Existing research documents that meditation practice helps relieve pain, improves physical health, reduces stress, and supports relaxation. No direct evidence shows the effect of meditation on SDL and OI, and only some evidence supporting the influence of meditation on OP. Nevertheless, the finding on the effect of the meditation experience in a work setting adds values to the current literature.
A survey of 317 clerical workers demonstrated that employees differed in what they defined as in-role and extra-role behavior, that these differences were related to commitment and social cues, and that employees were more likely to display organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) if they defined the behavior as in-role rather than extra-role. Results indicate that the boundary between in-role and extra-role behavior is not clearly defined and that OCB is a function of how broadly employees define their job responsibilities. This study suggests the need for a reconceptualization of OCB
Hospitals are fast paced health care environments that currently staff with Registered Nurse (RN) workforce comprised of more than 10% new graduate nurses. Past research has indicated that newly graduated nurses encounter stressful challenges transitioning from student (graduate) to the professional RN in the workforce. This issue must be given unabated priority, because loss of the new graduate has financial and patient safety implications. The purpose of this research study was to investigate work-related stress among recent nursing graduates and identify factors that influence their stress levels, as well as their intention to resign from their employment. Potential factors include gender, program type, work unit and duration, graduation time, and orientation. The study results indicate that junior RNs and BSN graduates are more likely to experience stress. Of all the stressors identified, equipment issues was the only factor that correlated both statistically and significantly to the participants' intention to quit. By investigating specific work-related stressors and coping strategies that these newly graduated nurses experience, this research may provide important information to better prepare and support future nursing students successfully transitioned to practice.
Mindfulness meditation practices (MMPs) are a subgroup of meditation practices which are receiving growing attention. The present paper reviews current evidence about the effects of MMPs on objective measures of cognitive functions. Five databases were searched. Twenty three studies providing measures of attention, memory, executive functions and further miscellaneous measures of cognition were included. Fifteen were controlled or randomized controlled studies and 8 were case-control studies. Overall, reviewed studies suggested that early phases of mindfulness training, which are more concerned with the development of focused attention, could be associated with significant improvements in selective and executive attention whereas the following phases, which are characterized by an open monitoring of internal and external stimuli, could be mainly associated with improved unfocused sustained attention abilities. Additionally, MMPs could enhance working memory capacity and some executive functions. However, many of the included studies show methodological limitations and negative results have been reported as well, plausibly reflecting differences in study design, study duration and patients' populations. Accordingly, even though findings here reviewed provided preliminary evidence suggesting that MMPs could enhance cognitive functions, available evidence should be considered with caution and further high quality studies investigating more standardized mindfulness meditation programs are needed.
Mindfulness- based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a meditation program based on an integration of Cognitive behavioural therapy and Mindfulness-based stress reduction. The aim of the present work is to review and conduct a meta-analysis of the current findings about the efficacy of MBCT for psychiatric patients. A literature search was undertaken using five electronic databases and references of retrieved articles. Main findings included the following: 1) MBCT in adjunct to usual care was significantly better than usual care alone for reducing major depression (MD) relapses in patients with three or more prior depressive episodes (4 studies), 2) MBCT plus gradual discontinuation of maintenance ADs was associated to similar relapse rates at 1year as compared with continuation of maintenance antidepressants (1 study), 3) the augmentation of MBCT could be useful for reducing residual depressive symptoms in patients with MD (2 studies) and for reducing anxiety symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder in remission (1 study) and in patients with some anxiety disorders (2 studies). However, several methodological shortcomings including small sample sizes, non-randomized design of some studies and the absence of studies comparing MBCT to control groups designed to distinguish specific from non-specific effects of such practice underscore the necessity for further research.
Although mindfulness-based therapy has become a popular treatment, little is known about its efficacy. Therefore, our objective was to conduct an effect size analysis of this popular intervention for anxiety and mood symptoms in clinical samples.
We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. Our meta-analysis was based on 39 studies totaling 1,140 participants receiving mindfulness-based therapy for a range of conditions, including cancer, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and other psychiatric or medical conditions.
Effect size estimates suggest that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for improving anxiety (Hedges's g = 0.63) and mood symptoms (Hedges's g = 0.59) from pre- to posttreatment in the overall sample. In patients with anxiety and mood disorders, this intervention was associated with effect sizes (Hedges's g) of 0.97 and 0.95 for improving anxiety and mood symptoms, respectively. These effect sizes were robust, were unrelated to publication year or number of treatment sessions, and were maintained over follow-up.
These results suggest that mindfulness-based therapy is a promising intervention for treating anxiety and mood problems in clinical populations.
The Buddhist notion of "nonattachment" (release from mental fixations) is related to but distinguishable from the Western construct of attachment. Secure (or insecure) attachment is based on internal working models related to security (or insecurity), whereas nonattachment is based on insight into the constructed and impermanent nature of mental representations. Based on historical and contemporary Buddhist scholarship, we designed the Nonattachment Scale and evaluated its psychometric properties in various samples. We also present evidence consistent with Buddhist theory that nonattachment is psychologically and socially adaptive, and we offer directions for further research on nonattachment.
The issue of differential prediction of health outcomes by sociological models of work stress has received little attention so far. This paper argues, both on theoretical and empirical grounds, that active coping with the experience of chronic work stress is more likely to be associated with physical health consequences of sustained autonomic arousal such as hypertension, whereas passive coping may predispose individuals to withdrawal behavior such as sickness absence from work. Based on data from a cross-sectional study on 189 male middle-aged (40-55, 48.3 +/- 4.6 years) middle managers in a car-producing company in Germany, this hypothesis is tested in the framework of the theoretical model of effort-reward imbalance at work. More specifically, the simultaneous manifestation of high effort and low reward at work, indicative of active coping, is expected to statistically predict the risk of being hypertensive. Conversely, suffering from low occupational rewards in the absence of signs of sustained effort, indicative of passive coping, is expected to predict sickness absence (SA) behavior. Multivariate odds ratios (OR) derived from logistic regression analysis and adjusted for important confounders indicate that three measures of low reward are associated with short-term SA (OR ranging from 3.30 to 9.15), that one measure of low reward is associated with long-term SA (OR: 2.67) and that two measures of low reward are associated with number of SA episodes (OR 4.05 and 6.33), whereas no indicator of high effort at work is significantly associated with SA. On the other hand, the OR of being hypertensive is 5.77 in middle managers who suffer from high effort and low reward simultaneously. In conclusion, a sociological model of work stress which allows for differential prediction of health outcomes according to the important notions of active versus passive coping with work demands finds preliminary empirical support.
To test the construct validity of the short-form version of the Depression anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), and in particular, to assess whether stress as indexed by this measure is synonymous with negative affectivity (NA) or whether it represents a related, but distinct, construct. To provide normative data for the general adult population.
Cross-sectional, correlational and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
The DASS-21 was administered to a non-clinical sample, broadly representative of the general adult UK population (N = 1,794). Competing models of the latent structure of the DASS-21 were evaluated using CFA.
The model with optimal fit (RCFI = 0.94) had a quadripartite structure, and consisted of a general factor of psychological distress plus orthogonal specific factors of depression, anxiety, and stress. This model was a significantly better fit than a competing model that tested the possibility that the Stress scale simply measures NA.
The DASS-21 subscales can validly be used to measure the dimensions of depression, anxiety, and stress. However, each of these subscales also taps a more general dimension of psychological distress or NA. The utility of the measure is enhanced by the provision of normative data based on a large sample.
GPOWER: A priori, post-hoc, and compromise power analysis for MS-DOS
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Faul, F., & Erdinger, E. (1992). GPOWER: A priori, post-hoc, and compromise power analysis for MS-DOS.
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HSE Management Standards Work-Related Stress Indicator Tool. London: Author. Health and Safety Executive Stress and psychological disorders Available from
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Stages of meditation: Training the mind for wisdom
- D Lama
Lama, D. (2001). Stages of meditation: Training the mind for wisdom. London: Rider.
The practice of Dzogchen
- L Rabjam
Rabjam, L. (2002). The practice of Dzogchen. (H. Talbot, Ed., & Tulku Thondup, Trans.) New York: Snow Lion
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