Cultivating teacher mindfulness: Effects of a randomized controlled trial on work, home, and sleep outcomes.

Abstract

The effects of randomization to a workplace mindfulness training (WMT) or a waitlist control condition on teachers' well-being (moods and satisfaction at work and home), quantity of sleep, quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day were examined in 2 randomized, waitlist controlled trials (RCTs). The combined sample of the 2 RCTs, conducted in Canada and the United States, included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female). Measures were collected at baseline, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that teachers randomized to WMT reported less frequent bad moods at work and home, greater satisfaction at work and home, more sleep on weekday nights, better quality sleep, and decreased insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness. Training-related group differences in mindfulness and rumination on work at home at postprogram partially mediated the reductions in negative moods at home and increases in sleep quality at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record

Prevalence of Mindfulness Practices in the US Workforce: National Health Interview Survey

“…In health care providers, mindfulness training reduced burnout, mood disturbances, and stress (9,10). Mindfulness training also showed improvements in mood and sleep quality among teachers (11). …”

Perceptions of a Mindfulness Intervention to Manage Stress and Support the Emotional Work of Teachers in Alternative Schools

“…Roeser et al, 2013). This is also consistent with a number of previous studies in which participants observed that a general improvement in their perceived quality of life had a spill-over effect from work to home (Crain, Schonert-Reichl & Roeser, 2016;Singh et al, 2013;Soloway, 2011).…”

“…Interestingly, in a number of studies, beneficial outcomes were not limited to interactions with students, but appeared to transfer across to close personal relationships (e.g. Crain, Schonert-Reichl & Roeser, 2016;Singh et al, 2013). This spill-over effect into the personal lives of teachers appears to create a compounding effect of the beneficial impact of mindfulness training on overall teacher well-being.…”

The effects of a cluster randomized controlled workplace intervention on sleep and work-family conflict outcomes in an extended care setting

“…In our prior study with Information Technology (IT) workers, we found that employees whose managers were less supportive of work and family issues slept less. 14-16 Thus far, our prior study has demonstrated a positive effect of a workplace intervention for reducing WFC 17 on objective sleep outcomes within a randomized controlled trial. In a randomized experiment in an IT firm, the workplace intervention that addressed reducing WFC through an organizational change process significantly increased employees’ actigraphically-assessed total sleep duration and perceived sleep sufficiency.…”

“…18 This research points to the possible benefits of interventions aimed at increasing workplace and manager support as well as increasing employee's control over work time to improve employee sleep, and the need to investigate intervention effects in other settings such as health care. Limited research on workplace intervention effects on sleep has focused on individual-level employees’ coping behaviors, such as mindfulness practices, 17, 19 rather than organizational changes in work practices. A few studies, however, have suggested that it is critical to reduce WFC at the workplace level to enhance employee well-being, including sleep.…”