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Research: BOSTOCK and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 286
Abstract
BOSTOCK and COLLEAGUES, 1 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London; 2 Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco investigated whether a mindfulness meditation program delivered via a smartphone application could improve psychological well-being, reduce job strain, and reduce ambulatory blood pressure during the workday.
Background
The authors investigated whether a mindfulness meditation program delivered via a smartphone application could improve psychological well-being, reduce job strain, and reduce ambulatory blood pressure during the workday.
Methodology
Participants were 238 healthy employees from two large United Kingdom companies that were randomized to a mindfulness meditation practice app or a wait-list control condition. The app offered 45 pre-recorded 10- to 20-min guided audio meditations. Participants were asked to complete one meditation per day. Psychosocial measures and blood pressure throughout one working day were measured at baseline and eight weeks later; a follow-up survey was also emailed to participants 16 weeks after the intervention start.
Results
Usage data showed that during the 8-week intervention period, participants randomized to the intervention completed an average of 17 meditation sessions (range 0-45 sessions). The intervention group reported significant improvement in well-being, distress, job strain, and perceptions of workplace social support compared to the control group. In addition, the intervention group had a marginally significant decrease in self-measured workday systolic blood pressure from pre- to post-intervention. Sustained positive effects in the intervention group were found for well-being and job strain at the 16-week follow-up assessment.
Conclusion
This trial suggests that short guided mindfulness meditations delivered via smartphone and practiced multiple times per week can improve outcomes related to work stress and well-being, with potentially lasting effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). Conflict of interest statement Headspace® provided access to the app for free and provided app usage data. Headspace® employee Andy Puddicombe led the ‘introductory talk’ for participants at the start of the study, and then had no contact with subjects, involvement in data analysis, or drafting of the manuscript. Sophie Bostock currently works for Big Health, Ltd, which designs behavioural medicine apps.
References
Sophie Bostock 1 , Alexandra D Crosswell 2 , Aric A Prather 2 , Andrew Steptoe 1 Mindfulness on-the-go: Effects of a mindfulness meditation app on work stress and well-being J Occup Health Psychol.;24(1):127-138. Feb 2019. doi: 10.1037/ocp0000118. Epub 2018 May 3.
Comment
The above research trial suggests that short guided mindfulness meditations delivered via smartphone and practiced multiple times per week can improve outcomes related to work stress and well-being, with potentially lasting effects.
