Online Mindfulness Training Increases Well-Being, Trait Emotional Intelligence, and Workplace Competency Ratings: A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial

Abstract

A randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an online 8-week mindfulness-based training program in a sample of adults employed fulltime at a Fortune 100 company in the United States. Baseline measures were collected in both intervention and control groups. Following training, the intervention group (N = 37) showed statistically significant increases in resilience and positive mood, and significant decreases in stress and negative mood. There were no reported improvements in the wait-list control group (N = 65). Trait mindfulness and emotional intelligence (EI) were also assessed. Following the intervention mindfulness intervention participants reported increases in trait mindfulness and increases on all trait EI facets with the exception of empathy. The control group did not report any positive changes in these variables, and reported reductions in resilience and increases in negative mood. Finally, both self and colleague ratings of workplace competencies were collected in the intervention group only and provided preliminary evidence that mindfulness training enhanced performance on key leadership competencies including competencies related to decisiveness and creativity. The present study demonstrates the effectiveness of an online-based mindfulness training program for enhancing well-being, self-perceptions of emotional intelligence, and workplace performance.

The mindful lawyer: Investigating the effects of two online mindfulness programs on self-reported well-being in the legal profession

“…The rates of attrition observed in these studies are broadly consistent with what has been observed in other studies of online (Christensen et al, 2009) and mindfulness-based (e.g., Cavanagh et al, 2013;Economides et al, 2018;Howells et al, 2016;Nadler et al, 2020) interventions. Both study and program attrition, however, was likely amplified by the use of web-based modalities.…”

“…Anecdotal reports of improved wellness and performance in the workplace following mindfulness training are largely supported by empirical studies (for a comprehensive review, see Lomas et al, 2017). Relative to inactive or waitlist controls, workplace-based mindfulness interventions have been found to increase levels of trait mindfulness (Aikens et al, 2014;Frank et al, 2015;Krusche et al, 2020;Nadler et al, 2020;Roeser et al, 2013;Wolever et al, 2012), emotional intelligence (Nadler et al, 2020), self-compassion (Frank et al, 2015;Roeser et al, 2013;Shapiro et al, 2005), and psychological resilience (Aikens et al, 2014;Nadler et al, 2020); enhance job satisfaction (Hülsheger et al, 2013), vigor (Aikens et al, 2014), working memory capacity (Roeser et al, 2013), psychological fulfilment (Krusche et al, 2020), and mood (Nadler et al, 2020); and reduce stress (Aikens et al, 2014;Krusche et al, 2020;Nadler et al, 2020;Roeser et al, 2013;Shapiro et al, 2005;Wolever et al, 2012), emotional exhaustion (Hülsheger et al, 2013), and sleep difficulties (Frank et al, 2015;Wolever et al, 2012).…”

“…Mindfulness training has also been found to enhance leadership abilities (Nadler et al, 2020), increase empathy and decrease feelings of depersonalization and burnout (Krasner et al, 2009), and mitigate declines in attention that are induced by job-related stress (Jha et al, 2015).…”

“…It is most often conceptualized as a psychological state that can be achieved via mindfulness practices (i.e., activities or techniques used to induce a state of mindfulness by promoting awareness of the present), though mindfulness can additionally be viewed as a relatively stable trait that varies from person to person; these related yet discrete concepts are referred to as state mindfulness and trait mindfulness, respectively (Jamieson & Tuckey, 2017). The relationship between trait and state mindfulness appears to be reciprocal, with the practice of mindfulness leading to changes in aspects of trait mindfulness (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003;Klatt et al, 2009;Nadler et al, 2020;Roeser et al, 2013) and trait mindfulness influencing the relationship between states of mindfulness and psychological well-being (Baer et al, 2008;Shapiro et al, 2011). Meditation, which is an activity that involves the self-regulation of attention (Goleman & Schwartz, 1976), is likely the most readily recognized mindfulness practice, though non-seated and non-meditative mindfulness activities (e.g., hatha yoga, mindful walking, and mindful eating) also exist.…”

New Evidence in the Booming Field of Online Mindfulness: An Updated Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…e Seven outliers were removed: Forbes et al [38] (study 1); Gao, M (unpublished data, 2021); Levin et al [48]; Mak et al [39]; Querstret et al [35,36]; Segal et al [40]; Yang et al [37]. f Nine outliers were removed: Allexandre et al [41] (study 1); Beshai et al [42]; Champion et al [43]; El Morr et al [44]; Huberty et al [45]; Kladnitski et al [34] (study 4); Levin et al [46]; Nadler et al [128]; Walsh et al [47]. g Six outliers were removed: Allexandre et al [41] (study 1); Hoffmann et al [129]; Levin et al [130] (study 1); Levin et al [48]; Ly et al [49]; Mak et al [39].…”