How Is Stress Reduced by a Workplace Mindfulness Intervention? A Qualitative Study Conceptualising Experiences of Change.
Siobhan Hugh-Jones, Sally Rose, Gina Z Koutsopoulou, Ruth Simms-Ellis
Mindfulness 2018 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-017-0790-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 21 |
| Population | Employees of a higher education institution who had completed a workplace mindfulness intervention |
| Duration | Eight-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Mechanisms of change Stress Workplace interventions |
| Key findings | The authors propose a provisional grounded-theory model in which discrete, temporal experiences build on each other to generate multiple positive benefits. Alongside enhanced attentional capacity, they identify resonance, self-care, detection of stress markers, perceiving choice, recovering self-agency, and upward spiralling as possible central mechanisms leading to positive outcomes. |
Abstract
Mindfulness-based interventions are effective as curative and preventative approaches to psychological health. However, the mechanisms by which outcomes are secured from such interventions when delivered in the workplace, and to a stressed workforce, are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to elicit and analyse accounts from past participants of a workplace mindfulness intervention in order to generate a preliminary model of how positive benefits appear to be secured. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were completed with 21 employees of a higher education institution who had completed an eight-week intervention based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, adapted for the workplace. Interviews invited participants to recount their experiences of the intervention and its impact, if any, on their work life. Aspects of the interview data that pertained to intervention experience and positive benefits were analysed using a version of grounded theory, leading to the generation of a provisional model of how positive change occurred. The model suggests that discrete, temporal experiences build on each other to generate multiple, positive benefits. As anticipated in mindfulness-based interventions, enhanced attentional capacity was important, but our provisional model also suggests that resonance, self-care, detection of stress markers, perceiving choice, recovering self-agency and upward spiralling may be central mechanisms that lead to positive outcomes. Understanding mechanisms of change may help support participant engagement and trust in work-based mindfulness programmes, and enhance participants' ability to apply mindfulness in their work life.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Developments in Qualitative Mindfulness Practice Research: a Pilot Scoping Review Mindfulness September 29, 2021
- Mixed-methods evaluation comparing the impact of two different mindfulness approaches on stress, anxiety and depression in school teachers. BMJ Open July 4, 2019
- Mapping, Meeting and Modulating Stress and Emotion: Combining Mindfulness and the Workable Ranges Model OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine December 22, 2022
- “I Think Mindfulness Might Be a Good Tool, But…”—A Qualitative Study of Employees’ Perceptions of the Implementation of a Forthcoming Workplace-Adapted Mindfulness-Based Intervention Mindfulness August 21, 2026
- Effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Intervention In Anxiety Disorder: A Qualitative Case Study
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