Improvements in Mindfulness Facets Mediate the Alleviation of Burnout Dimensions

Abstract

Objectives While interventions using mindfulness have been effective in treating burnout, the mechanisms of change need more research. This study investigated which of five mindfulness facets (observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, and non-reacting) mediated the intervention effects on three burnout dimensions (exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy) during an 8-week mindfulness-, acceptance-, and value-based (MAV) intervention and a 10-month follow-up. Methods The participants were a heterogeneous sample of employees suffering from burnout (n = 202, 80% women, mean age = 47.5 years). Latent change score modeling was conducted for each combination of the mindfulness facets and the burnout dimensions. Confidence intervals were calculated for the coefficients in the models. Results The modeling results showed that mindfulness improvement during the intervention mediated burnout alleviation during both the intervention and the 10-month follow-up. A large spread of mindfulness facets mediated changes in all the burnout dimensions during the intervention (all for cynicism, all except describing for exhaustion, and all except observing for reduced professional efficacy). The improvement in non-judging skills mediated the reductions in all burnout dimensions during the follow-up. For exhaustion, it was the only significant mediator during the follow-up, whereas for cynicism and reduced professional efficacy, describing and observing were additional mediators. Conclusions Improving mindfulness facets using a MAV intervention had significant long-term effects on burnout in this study. Non-judging is possibly the most important mindfulness facet to improve in burnout interventions, given that it mediated the changes in all burnout dimensions during both the intervention and 10-month follow-up.

A balanced view of mindfulness at work

“…Cameron and Fredrickson (2015) found that after recalling a pro-social act, the mindfulness facet of present-focused attention was associated with more positive emotions, and the facet of nonjudgmental acceptance was associated with less negative emotions. Similarly, the facets of attention and non-judgment have been shown to be most strongly associated with work engagement (Gunasekara & Zheng, 2019), and the nonjudgment facet has been shown to significantly mediate changes in all dimensions of burnout among employees participating in a workplace mindfulness-based intervention (Kinnunen et al, 2020). The question arises whether mindfulness might best promote positive organizational outcomes in combination with other variables, and similarly, whether the effects of mindfulness facets might be best understood when considered together.…”

Changes in Salivary Immunoglobulin A, Stress, and Burnout in a Workplace Mindfulness Intervention: A Pilot Study

“…The present study measured psychological variables that might explain those effects, e.g., self-compassion and psychological flexibility. In this regard, mindfulness facets have been considered as mechanisms of change in the decrease of burnout after an MBI [35].…”

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship Between Spirituality, Work Culture, and Burnout: The Need for an Extended Health and Disease Model

“…A negative relationship between these factors and burnout or stress has already been demonstrated in initial studies (e.g., Levert et al, 2000 ; Ernst et al, 2009 ; Kim and Yeom, 2018 ; Carneiro et al, 2019 ). Kinnunen et al ( 2020 ) demonstrated that mindfulness-based interventions are associated with reduced burnout in long term. Furthermore, it was observed that employees who are more spiritually or religiously oriented have greater resilience and therefore suffer less from burnout (Kim and Yeom, 2018 ; Carneiro et al, 2019 ).…”