Mindfulness Training and Stress Reduction in Teachers: Findings and Potential Mediating Processes

Introduction:

The purpose of this paper is to present efficacy and process data from two randomized-control trials (RCTs) and one uncontrolled trial (UCT) of a mindfulness training (MT) for public school teachers aimed at reducing occupational stress and burnout. MT is hypothesized to increase baseline mindfulness, defined as present-centered awareness that is non-reactive and non-judgmental, but rather calm, curious and accepting with regard to whatever is arising moment to moment. Collectively, the increased awareness, self-regulation, and self-compassion, and decreased mindlessness, reactivity and self-criticism afforded by MT, are hypothesized to help teachers to reduce stress, emotional exhaustion and burnout.

 Methods:

Two randomized waitlist-control trials with assessment at pre/post/follow-up were conducted in Canada and the US.  Surveys and physiological indicators of stress and burnout, and survey and interview data on hypothesized mediators of intervention effects were collected. In an interview study embedded in the RCT in Canada, teachers’ descriptions of a recent stressful event at school were coded for two processes we hypothesized might change as a function of MT: expressed negative affect and coping strategies. In a subsequent, uncontrolled trial (UCT) conducted in the US, all sessions of the intervention were filmed and thematically analyzed, and case studies of four teachers were conducted to seek clues into mechanisms of intervention effect.

 Results:

Results of the RCTs showed 93% of teachers completed the program, and that teachers randomized to MT reported greater mindfulness and self-compassion and lower levels of occupational stress and burnout at post/follow-up compared to controls. No group differences were found for blood pressure, resting heart rate, or cortisol. Mediational analyses showed group differences in mindfulness and self-compassion at post-program mediated reductions in stress and burnout at follow-up. Interview data from post-program showed teachers receiving MT expressed less negative emotion than those in the control group when describing a recent stressor at work. No significant post-program differences in reported coping strategies to deal with that stressor were found, however. Results of interview data and linguistic analyses of the MT sessions from the UCT revealed several potential mediating processes of stress reduction, including a change in teachers’ language usage over time.

 Conclusion:

MT shows efficacy as a strategy for reducing teacher stress and burnout. New skills and mindsets, learned from social interaction, seem to mediate program impacts. More work on documenting behavioral and physiological effects of MT with teachers is needed