Gold 2010

Source:   RESEARCH STUDY/ARTICLE

APA Citation:

Gold, E., Smith, A., Hopper, I., Herne, D., Tansey, G., & Hulland, C. (2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for primary school teachers. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(2), 184-189.

Author bio:

Gold, Eluned – Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, School of Psychology, Bangor University (Wales, UK)

Smith, Alistar and Hopper, Ieuan – Lancashire Care Foundation NHS Trust

Herne, David and Tansey, Glenis – Central Lancashire Primary Care NHS Trust

Hulland, Christine – Lancashire County Council

Central Argument/Thesis:

Stress within the teaching profession has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of individual teachers and on retention and recruitment for the profession as a whole 184

[Study] results showed improvement for most participants for anxiety, depression, and stress, some of which were statistically significant … results suggest that this approach could be a potentially cost-effective method to combat teacher stress and burnout 184

Study Design:

Participants – Nine qualified teachers and two teaching assistants from six primary schools (11 total); participants were offered a short presentation on the background of mindfulness, some evidence for its use in stress management and short meditation practices (similar to the MBSR program); participants were self-selected and all identified themselves as experiencing stress 185

Intervention – 8-week MBSR course taught by the first author; course was delivered immediately following the school day; 8 x 2.5-hour weekly sessions, including a 5 hour ‘silent day’ conducted on a Saturday between weeks 5 and 6.  185

Methods – Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS21) before and after taking course; Global Problem Scale (Fear Questionnaire) to identify their main problem and rate severity from 0-8 and define a Main Goal pre-intervention and rate percentage of achievement post-intervention; Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS), self-report, before and shortly after MBSR course 185

Discussion – Conclusion:

Most participants experienced reductions in stress, depression, and anxiety as a result of participating in the MBSR course, as shown by the DASS scores 187

Before the MBSR course, participants set main goals for their desired achievements through taking the course. On average, participants reported that they had progressed 60% of the way to these goals in less than 3 months 187

Limitations: 187

Small sample size; self-selected participants; lack of control group; lack of follow-up

Notable Quotes (w/page numbers):

Results indicate that benefits may accrue following mindfulness training in terms of personal wellbeing, reduction in mental health difficulties, achievement of personally relevant goals, and enhanced ability to cope with the demands of teaching in a modern primary school 189

Project notes:

This is not a strong study due to the limitations (see above).