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Mindfulness for Healthcare Providers: The Role of Non-Reactivity in Reducing Stress.

Roberto P Benzo, Paige M Anderson, Carrie A Bronars, Mathew Clark

Explore November 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2018.03.008 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed
Sample size 100
Population Healthcare providers at a large Midwestern teaching hospital
Intervention Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Duration 8-week MBSR course, measures at baseline and completion
Measures Perceived Stress Scale-10, Linear Analog Scale Assessment, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire non-reactivity subscale
Topics Meditation
Keywords Healthcare providers Non-reactivity Perceived stress
Key findings After an 8-week MBSR course, changes in non-reactivity to inner experience were robustly associated with changes in perceived stress in healthcare providers, independent of quality-of-life gains, holding in 97% of 5000 bootstrapped models. The authors argue non-reactivity is a key mechanism of MBSR's stress-reducing effect.

Abstract

There is strong evidence in the literature that the cultivation of mindfulness through programs such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has a profound impact on perceived stress for healthcare providers. The mechanism of the latter association is still being studied. However, it has been hypothesized that in particular, the cultivation of non-reactivity as a mindfulness skill may be particularly associated with the salutary effect of MBSR to reduce stress in health care providers even if adjusted for the benefit on quality of life gained after MBSR. The latter may represent important mechanistic information to build customized mindfulness interventions for health care providers. Determine whether the change in non-reactivity to inner experience after MBSR is associated with the adjusted changes in perceived stress after MBSR. a Cross-sectional study. A large, Midwestern teaching hospital. 100 health care providers. 8-week standard MBSR course. Perceived Stress Scale-10, Linear Analog Scale Assessment to measure Quality of life, and the mindfulness domain non-reactivity to inner experience was assessed by the non-reactivity subscale of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. All measures were administered at baseline and completion of the intervention. The change from baseline to completion of MBSR was significant for all variables, with moderate-to-robust effect sizes. There was a significant negative correlation between non-reactivity and perceived stress both at baseline (p < 0.0001) and when comparing changes in scores from baseline to post-intervention (p < 0.0001). Change in non-reactivity to inner experience was robustly associated with the change in perceived stress (p < 0.0001) after MBSR (97% in 5000 bootstrapped models). Non-reactivity to inner experience is a key aspect of MBSR that is independently associated with a change in perceived stress in health care providers.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups 2008 Cross-sectional study
Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants 2007 Observational cross-sectional n = 27
Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents 2011 Cross-sectional validation study n = 1,413
Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators 2012 Cross-sectional study n = 152
Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates 2008 Cross-sectional, correlational

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