Reducing teachers' psychological distress through a mindfulness training program.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to examine the efficacy of a mindfulness training program in reducing psychological distress among secondary school teachers.
Results Summary
The study found a significant reduction in psychological distress measures (Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index, Positive Symptom Total) and all sub-dimensions (e.g., depression, anxiety) in the experimental group compared to controls, with effects sustained for four months post-intervention.
Population
68 secondary school teachers from public schools.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified (follow-up lasted four months post-intervention)
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mindfulness training programme | decrease | Global Severity Index | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #1 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | Positive Symptom Distress Index | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #2 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | Positive Symptom Total | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #3 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | somatization | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #4 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | obsessive-compulsive | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #5 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | interpersonal sensibility | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #6 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | depression | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #7 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | anxiety | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #8 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | hostility | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #9 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | phobic anxiety | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #10 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | paranoid ideation | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #11 |
mindfulness training programme | decrease | psychoticism | teachers of Secondary School Education | - | significant reduction | #12 |
mindfulness training programme | no change | psychological distress | teachers of Secondary School Education | four months after termination of the intervention | maintained | #13 |
Teachers constitute one of the professional collectives most affected by psychological problems. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to examine the efficacy of a mindfulness training programme to reduce psychological distress in a group of teachers. The sample comprised 68 teachers of Secondary School Education, from various public schools; half of them formed the experimental group, and the another half the control group. The levels of psychological distress were measured, in both groups, by the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) before and after the application of the programme. Statistical analysis shows the significant reduction of three general measures of psychological distress (Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index, and Positive Symptom Total), as well in all its dimensions (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensibility, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism), in the experimental group compared with the control group. Follow-up measures show that these results were maintained for four months after termination of the intervention in the experimental group.