A study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial on mindfulness-based stress reduction: Studying effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an additional organisational health intervention on mental health and work-related perceptions of teachers in Dutch secondary vocational schools

Abstract

Background: Dutch teachers in secondary vocational schools suffer from stress and burnout complaints that can cause considerable problems at work. This paper presents a study design that can be used to evaluate the short- and long-term effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), being a person-focused intervention, both within and without the context of an additional organisational health intervention. Methods: The proposed study comprises a cluster randomised controlled trial that will be conducted in at least three secondary vocational schools, for which teachers will[HBvd(1] be recruited from three types of courses: Care, Technology, and Economy. The allocation of the intervention programme to the participating schools will be randomised. The teachers from each school will be assigned to either Intervention Group 1 (IG 1), Intervention Group 2 (IG 2), or the Waiting List Group (WG). IG 1 will receive MBSR training and IG 2 will receive MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention. WG, that is the control group, will receive MBSR training one year later. The primary outcome variable of the proposed study is mindfulness, which will be measured with the Dutch version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-NL). In the conceptual model, the effects of teachers’ mindfulness resulting from the intervention programmes (MBSR training and MBSR training combined with an additional organisational health intervention) will be related to salient (secondary outcome) variables: mental health outcomes (e.g., burnout, work engagement), work performance, work-related perceptions (job demands and job resources), and personal competencies (e.g., occupational self-efficacy). Data will be collected before (T0) and immediately after the MBSR training (T1), and three (T2) and nine months (T3) after the training. The power analysis revealed a required sample size of 66 teachers (22 for each group). Discussion: The proposed study aims to provide insight into: (1) the short- and long-term effects of MBSR on teachers’ mental health, (2) the possible enhancing effects of the additional organisational health intervention, and (3) the teachers’ experiences with the interventions (working mechanisms, steps in the mindfulness change process). Strengths of this study design are the use of both positive and negative outcomes, the wide range of outcomes, both outcome and process measures, longitudinal data, mixed methods, and an integral approach. Although the proposed study protocol may not address all weaknesses of current studies (e.g., self-selection bias, self-reporting of data, the Hawthorne effect), it is innovative in many ways and can be expected to make important contributions to both the scientific and practical debate on how to beat work-related stress and occupational burnout, and on how to enhance work engagement and work performance.

Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an organizational health intervention on Dutch teachers’ mental health

“…They could withdraw at any moment without consequence. The methods used have been described extensively elsewhere (Janssen et al, 2020).…”

“…The current study aimed to test the short-and longterm effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on teachers' mindfulness (as the primary outcome), other mental health aspects, and work performance. We hypothesized that MBSR would improve these outcomes (Janssen et al, 2020). We also investigated the effect of MBSR on mediating factors such as personal competencies (occupational self-efficacy and taking distance) and work-related perceptions (job demands, job resources, and negative work-home/negative home-work interaction) (Janssen et al, 2020), and we investigated the effects of a participatory, preventive, organizational health intervention (i.e.…”

“…We hypothesized that MBSR would improve these outcomes (Janssen et al, 2020). We also investigated the effect of MBSR on mediating factors such as personal competencies (occupational self-efficacy and taking distance) and work-related perceptions (job demands, job resources, and negative work-home/negative home-work interaction) (Janssen et al, 2020), and we investigated the effects of a participatory, preventive, organizational health intervention (i.e. a participatory action approach).…”

“…a participatory action approach). We hypothesized that this intervention, among other outcomes, would positively influence teachers' occupational self-efficacy (Bandura, 1998;Janssen et al, 2020). We hoped that its implementation would generate tailored work solutions that positively influence the balance between job demands (work pressure and work-life balance) and job resources (autonomy, feedback, relationships) for teachers in the participating schools.…”

Developing And Validating the Measurement Model for Employee Engagement Construct Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

“…Abundant problems are underlined regarding the lecturers' performance because they are doing multitasking against the principles of the conventional role of teaching (Kola & Challapalli, 2019). Vocational college lecturers experience the ill effects of stress and burnout issues that can cause significant workplace issues (Janssen, Heerkens, Van Der Heijden, Korzilius, Peters & Engels, 2020). Therefore, EE is a critical issue to be dealt with in the public sector.…”