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“God is my doctor”: mindfulness meditation/prayer as a spiritual well-being coping strategy for Jamaican school principals to manage their work-related stress and anxiety

A. Walker

July 7, 2020 DOI: 10.1108/jea-06-2019-0097 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study
Sample size 12
Population Jamaican secondary school principals working in schools supporting rural, urban and inner-city school communities
Interventions Mindfulness meditation prayer
Topics Anxiety Meditation
Keywords Education
Key findings Jamaican school principals use mindfulness meditation and prayer as a spiritual coping strategy to manage work-related stress and anxiety.

Abstract

This article explores Jamaican secondary school principals' use of mindfulness meditation as a spiritual well-being strategy to manage their work-related stress and anxiety.,The author used qualitative semi-structured interviews to collect the data from 12 Jamaican secondary school principals working in schools supporting rural, urban and inner-city school communities. Thematic coding of the analyzed data was used to understand how principals deal with their work-related stress and anxiety.,The findings indicate that Jamaican school principals are experiencing work-related stress and anxiety as a result of work intensification, and use mindfulness meditation/prayer as a spiritual coping strategy. The data indicate that principals' primary source of support is their spiritual belief – faith in God and mindfulness meditation/prayer – when dealing with issues related to well-being.,This article explores the use of mindfulness meditation as a non-secular coping strategy, and focuses on an understudied area of educational administration research: Jamaican school principals' well-being. The findings can help inform future education and health policy around occupational health and well-being for professionals, and lay the foundation for greater studies on principal well-being in Jamaican and the Caribbean more generally.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on anxiety, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: A qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects Patients with anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases 2014 Prospective follow-up with qualitative content analysis n = 10
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
Cancer at the Dinner Table: Experiences of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Distress Adult participants with clinically elevated anxiety associated with a cancer diagnosis 2017 Qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis n = 13
Extended difficulties following the use of psychedelic drugs: A mixed methods study Participants who reported extended difficulties following psychedelic experiences 2023 Convergent mixed-method study n = 608
Mindfulness and compassion-oriented practices at work reduce distress and enhance self-care of palliative care teams: a mixed-method evaluation of an “on the job“ program Interdisciplinary palliative care team staff 2017 Observational mixed-method pilot evaluation n = 28

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