Mindfulness-based stress reduction for managers: a randomized controlled study.


Author: Żołnierczyk-Zreda D1, Sanderson M2, Bedyńska S3

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Central Institute for Labour Protection-National Research Institute (CIOP-PIB), Czerniakowska 16, 00-701 Warsaw, Poland, dozol@ciop.pl.

<sup>2</sup>Akademia Mindfulness, Spiska 8/18, 02-302 Warsaw, Poland.

<sup>3</sup>University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Chodakowska 19/31, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland.
Conference/Journal: Occup Med (Lond).
Date published: 2016 Jul 20
Other:
  Pages: kqw091   ,  Word Count: 260  
    BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which was initially used in clinical settings, has also proved to be an effective tool for managing work-related stress in occupational groups inherently exposed to certain psychosocial risks.



AIMS: To examine the potential for work-related stress management using MBSR for middle-level managers who are considered to be particularly affected by the negative effects of stress related to organizational restructuring.



METHODS: Middle-level managers participated in a randomized controlled study which implemented a 2 (experimental versus control group) × 2 (baseline, post-treatment) study design, yielding a between-group comparison. The participants were randomly assigned to an 8-week intervention group or to a wait-list control group.



RESULTS: The results showed that, relative to the control group, the MBSR intervention had significant effects on several outcomes in the 144 subjects, including: decreases in perceived work-related stress (F(1,140) = 20.4, P < 0.001, d diff = 0.72), negative affect (F(1,140) = 45.3, P < 0.001, d diff = 0.93), intensity of somatic complaints (F(1,140) = 20.7, P < 0.001, d diff = 0.69), and sickness absence (F(1,140) = 67.3, P < 0.001, d diff = 0.69), and increase in self-esteem (F(1,140) = 44.1, P < 0.001, d diff = 1.25), and positive affect (F(1,140) = 6.73, P < 0.01, d diff = 0.43). No effects were found on frequency of somatic complaints.



CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MBSR is an effective method for managing work-related stress and bolstering psychological resilience in the workplace, particularly in the face of psychosocial risks of a global, economic nature.



© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.



KEYWORDS: Managers; mindfulness; occupational stress; perceived work stressors; sick leave.



PMID: 27440398  DOI: 10.1093/occmed/kqw091