Estudio piloto del impacto de una intervención de mindfulness en una organización financiera en Chile

Abstract

Working conditions in modern societies have undergone many changes in recent years and a large amount of specialised literature reports that employee psychological and emotional health is becoming increasingly affected. Psychosocial risk assessments of the individual and organisational consequences have begun to be studied in Chile. The present study evaluates the impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on a group of employees in a Chilean banking institution. Five dimensions were established for the study: Mindfulness, Subjective Well-being, Affect/anxiety, Engagement, and Work Satisfaction. The statistical significance of observed differences was made using the t-test on the required parametric assumptions, or in their absence, using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The differences in scores were also examined using a simple three-level linearregression model. A Bayesian approximation was additionally used with Markov Chain Monte Carlo estimation procedures. The investigation found that the intervention significantly increased mindfulness levels (particularly in non-judgment and observation aspects) and also significantly lowered the negative emotions and anxiety levels of the participants. Less conclusive evidence was found for an increase in observed subjective wellbeing (one case). No significant differences were observed for positive emotions and life satisfaction, or in engagement and work satisfaction levels. Results are discussed in light of psychosocial factors, and some future guidelines are proposed.