Doing what matters in times of stress: No-nonsense meditation and occupational well-being in COVID-19.
Justine Van de Velde, Katia Levecque, Bert Weijters, Steven Laureys
PLoS One 2023 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292406 (opens in new tab)
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Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Longitudinal study with waitlist control Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 241 |
| Population | Teachers |
| Intervention | Focused attention meditation |
| Dose | five to ten minutes per day |
| Duration | Six months |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Focused attention meditation improved emotional and physical well-being and prevented the development of cognitive well-being problems in teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Abstract
While the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the general public's health and well-being, it exacerbated the pre-existing well-being issues in the educational sector in many countries. Mindfulness-based interventions are often applied to protect and promote occupational well-being. To investigate how the well-being benefits of these interventions arise, we selected one accessible technique that is used in most of them: focused attention meditation. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, 199 teachers voluntarily practiced five to ten minutes of meditation together with their pupils, every morning for six months. We employed a three-wave longitudinal design to follow any changes in the meditating teachers' well-being and compared these changes to a waitlist control condition of 42 teachers. Three dimensions of well-being were measured at baseline, half-time, and post-intervention: emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. Latent growth curve models revealed that the meditation technique not only improves well-being but also prevents the development of well-being problems. The practice of focused attention meditation resulted in improvements in emotional and physical well-being and prevented the development of cognitive well-being problems that were observed within the control condition. The effects were strongest for emotional and cognitive well-being and followed a linear trend. This paper shows that the well-being effects of mindfulness-based interventions are at least in part due to the focused attention meditation that is practiced in them. Occupational groups that experience emotional, cognitive, or physical well-being issues can benefit from a few minutes of focused attention meditation per day. Trial registration: ISRCTN ISRCTN61170784 (https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN61170784).
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 18
- Mindfulness for Teachers: A Pilot Study to Assess Effects on Stress, Burnout, and Teaching Efficacy Mind, Brain, and Education August 16, 2013
- Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants' mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes Behaviour Research and Therapy May 10, 2017
- The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials Perspectives on Psychological Science February 16, 2021
- Women Benefit More Than Men in Response to College-based Meditation Training. Frontiers in Psychology 2017
- A reanalysis of a randomized trial on meditation for migraine headaches: Distraction is not enough but meditation takes time. Complementary Therapies in Medicine August 14, 2019
and 13 more in the library