Van de Velde J, Levecque K, Weijters B, Laureys S (2023) Doing what matters in times of stress: No-nonsense meditation and occupational well-being in COVID-19. PLoS ONE 18(11): e0292406. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292406. pmid:37910465
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pre-existing stressors on teachers mental health. Teachers have experienced burnout, depression, and anxiety. Contributing factors include job insecurity, high workloads, and challenges with students and parental expectations.
Workplace studies may include many mindfulness practices (focused attention meditation, yoga, walking meditation, body scan and informal practices) which make it difficult to determine which intervention is responsible for measured outcomes. A strength of this study is the use of only one practice, focused attention, which is common to almost all mindfulness-based interventions and “… is considered to be an accessible starting point for meditation novices.”
The participants were elementary school teachers in Belgium. They were instructed in focused attention meditation on the breath and subsequently were asked to organize one classroom meditation session at the beginning of every school day for 18 months. The duration of the meditation session depended on the age of the pupils and varied between five and ten minutes. The teachers were asked to join the pupils in meditation when the progress of their pupils allowed them to do so. Teachers were also asked to practice at home for 20 minutes per session. Direct in-person support was available to the teachers and recorded guidance and other materials were available on-line. The use of the subjects, teachers, as instructors for their students was perhaps a unique additional variable.
The effect of the meditation intervention on teacher occupational well-being was tested using three online self-report surveys over the first six months of the project. A passive waitlist control condition consisted of teachers from school districts not involved in the experimental condition.
“This study was part of a larger project … [which] … focused on the meditation’s well-being effects for teachers and students at the same time.” I was disappointed to find that this study as published did not include any data on the effects on the students.
This study’s findings show a consistent beneficial effect of focused attention meditation on emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being in participating teachers during the six-month observation window.
The findings suggest that the well-being benefits of meditation might manifest themselves through two different causal pathways.
The first pathway (suggested in most former meditation studies) states that meditation practice leads to increased levels of well-being. In this study, this pathway was observed for perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, negative affect, positive affect, and musculoskeletal problems. No changes were observed in the control condition.
The second pathway suggests that meditation practice does not necessarily lead to increases in levels of well-being, but that it prevents levels of well-being from decreasing in case of exacerbated levels of stress and strain.
Practical implications
Organizations invest in stress management programs for occupational well-being, with mindfulness-based interventions gaining popularity. These interventions vary in duration and intensity; some require daily meditation sessions, while others involve intense practices like group sessions and silent retreats. Mindfulness interventions offer benefits without needing specific equipment or intensive teaching. The study highlights that short daily meditation sessions can enhance well-being. Focused attention meditation is flexible, can be practiced at any time and place, and can be done individually or in groups. The study found that even a few minutes of daily meditation over six months improved emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. Focused attention meditation is seen as compatible with organizational change programs but cannot resolve underlying workplace issues.
