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Research: BOSTOCK and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 294
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). Grant support: National Institute on Aging; R24 AG048024/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States; British Heart Foundation; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; K08 HL112961/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States.
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. doi: 10.1037/ocp0000118. Epub 2018 May 3. Feb 2019.
Comment
The above research suggests that short guided mindfulness meditations delivered via smartphone and practised multiple times per week may improve outcomes related to work stress and well-being, with potentially lasting effects.
