Heart Rate Variability and Perceived Stress in Teacher Training: Facing the Reality Shock With Mindfulness?
Philipp Beuchel, Colin Cramer
Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health 2023 DOI: 10.1177/27536130231176538 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental intervention study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 42 |
| Population | Teacher trainees during their first year of teacher training |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based stress reduction training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Ambulatory assessment Physiological stress Reality shock Teacher training |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training reduced perceived stress in beginning teachers (d = .63) and this improvement was maintained (d = .55), while the wait-list control group's perceived stress remained highly elevated. Physiological stress was high at the start of training and attenuated over time; the intervention reduced heart rate only in situations where the mindfulness group had initially shown higher heart rates (d = .53 to .74), with no effect on heart rate variability. |
Abstract
The beginning of the career of teachers is a demanding phase. In the combined roles of teacher and trainee, and in the shift from academic to practical learning, trainee teachers have to acquire competencies in teaching as well as coping with stress. In this phase, the phenomenon of "reality shock" is widely observed. A mindfulness training was developed to support teacher trainees during their first year. This intervention study investigated perceived and physiological stress at teachers' career start and the stress reducing effects of the mindfulness training in this phase. In a quasi-experimental design, 19 out of 42 participants from this sample underwent mindfulness-based stress reduction training and a wait-list control group (N = 23) underwent a compact course after post measurements. We measured physiological stress parameters and perceived stress at 3 different time points. Heart rate signals were acquired in ambulatory assessment sequences, including teaching, rest periods, and cognitive tasks. The data were analyzed in linear mixed-effects models. We found high physiological stress in the very beginning of teacher training, which attenuated over time. The mindfulness intervention only led to a greater reduction in heart rate (d = .53 to .74) in situations where the intervention group had shown higher heart rate levels initially, but not in heart rate variability. However, the mindfulness group significantly reduced (d = .63) their perceived stress and maintained (d = .55) this improvement, while the control group maintained a highly elevated perceived stress level throughout. The mindfulness training could reduce subjective stress, which otherwise seems to be a long-lasting aspect of beginning teachers' "reality shock". Indications of a superior reduction of physiological stress in demanding situations were weak, while generally, undue physiological stress seems to be a temporary phenomenon in the initial phase of teacher induction.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- 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
- How Does Mindfulness Training Affect Health? A Mindfulness Stress Buffering Account Current Directions in Psychological Science December 1, 2014
- The Effects of Mindfulness and Meditation on Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability: A Meta-Analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2021
- Heart Rate Variability as a Marker of Distress and Recovery: The Effect of Brief Supportive Expressive Group Therapy With Mindfulness in Cancer Patients Integrative Cancer Therapies August 18, 2020
- Meditation and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Journal of the American Heart Association September 28, 2017
and 2 more in the library