Mindfulness and Resilience in Teaching Professionals - An Intervention Study -

Abstract

The empirical research of mindfulness training programs has increased recently but has not kept up with the growth of mindfulness interventions in the school setting. Research on the effects of mindfulness training for teaching professionals in mental health is rare (Jennings, 2016). Resilience is an important personal trait for managing work related demands and it contributes to a healthy workforce. Objective: To identify the effect of a mindfulness training for teachers with reference to possible improvements of the mindfulness level and resilience level. Method: This is a non-randomized intervention study with one intervention group (n=15) and one control group (n=29). Teachers in the intervention group got mindfulness training. The control group got training on other topics. The trainings were organized by the school authority. Due to the timeline of the trainings the study had a late entry point. Standardized questionnaires were administered at the last day of intervention (t1) and at a follow-up appointment four months after the last intervention (t2). To test if mindfulness has an influence on resilience two linear regressions were conducted. Further, repeated measures ANOVA and Paired Samples T-test have been used for testing how the mindfulness scores and the resilience scores change over time and differ among the groups. Results: It can be assumed that mindfulness positively predicts the resilience level of teaching professionals. ANOVA were significant for the t1 (F[2,30]=7,65, p = ,002) and t2 (F[2,38]=7,182, p = ,002). However, the effect of the group was no longer significant at t2 (p=0.083). Also, analysis showed small effect sizes (t1: Adjusted R2 = ,294, t2: Adjusted R2 = ,236). Further, there was no significant main effect between intervention and control group referring the mindfulness core (F[1,28]= ,821 p= ,373, partial η2= ,028) and the resilience score (F[1,28]= 3,092 p= ,093, partial η2= ,098). Also, statistically significant interaction effects between the group factor and the time factor was not found. Moreover, the model also showed low observed power for mindfulness (14,1%) and resilience (39,0%). Conclusion: Even though mindfulness was a statically significant predictor for resilience the group factor did not reach significance in most other analyses. Results must be interpreted with caution. Small effect sizes, low statistical power and the wide range of limitations lead to a conclusion that in this setting the mindfulness training did not improve the mindfulness and resilience level in teaching professionals. Further research should use randomized controlled designs with larger samples or focus on gaining a greater understanding of how workers adopt mindfulness to clarify optimal training approaches.