Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to understand the associations between mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement in a very large sample of English-speaking adults, from 130 different countries. It also aimed to assess participants' self-reported changes following a 6-week mindfulness massive open online course (MOOC).Methods: Participants in the 6-week MOOC were invited to complete pre-post online surveys. Cross-sectional associations were assessed using univariate linear models, followed by structural equation models to test mediation pathways in baseline data (N = 16,697). Self-reported changes in mindfulness, stress and engagement following training were assessed using paired t-tests (n = 2,105).Results: Each standard deviation unit increase in mindfulness was associated with a 0.52 standard deviation unit decrease in perceived stress, and with 0.06 standard deviation unit increment in work engagement. 73% of the influence of mindfulness on engagement was direct. Following the mindfulness MOOC, participants reported higher mindfulness (d = 1.16), reduced perceived stress (d = 1.00) and a small improvement in work engagement (d = 0.29).Conclusions: Mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress and higher work engagement in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. These findings support mindfulness as a potentially protective and modifiable personal resource. The MOOC format offers a low cost, highly accessible means for extending the reach and potential benefits of mindfulness training to large numbers of people.
Highlights
Mindfulness, or intentionally paying attention to current experiences with an open and non-judging attitude, is described as both a skill and as a way of being (Bishop et al, 2004)
To estimate the association between changes in mindfulness following course exposure with perceived stress and work engagement we regressed Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) scores post-training on FMIpost – FMIpre, adjusted for PSS and UWES pre-training
Perceived stress following exposure to the MWPP-massive open online courses (MOOC) was decreased by an expected d = −0.48 [95%CI −0.52, −0.44] for each unit increase in mindfulness (FMIpost-FMIpre), p < 0.001, adjusted for pre-intervention PSS scores
Summary
This study aimed to understand the associations between mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement in a very large sample of English-speaking adults, from 130 different countries. It aimed to assess participants’ self-reported changes following a 6-week mindfulness massive open online course (MOOC)
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