Abstract
This research analyses the effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) and physical exercise (PE), practised as daily recovery activities during lunch breaks, on perceived stress, general mental health, and immunoglobin A (IgA). A three-armed randomized controlled trial with 94 employees was conducted for five weeks including two follow-up sessions after one and six months. Daily practice lasted 30 min maximum. Perceived stress and general mental health questionnaires and saliva samples were used. There were significant differences in time factor comparing pre- and post-test of Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) both for PE [Mdiff = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p = 0.03], and for MM [Mdiff = 0.09, SE = 0.03, p = 0.03]. Moreover, there were significant differences of interaction factor when comparing MM vs. PE in total score at pre-post [F = −2.62 (6, 168.84), p = 0.02, ω2 = 0.09], favoring PE with medium and high effect sizes. Regarding General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) variable, practicing MM showed significant effects in time factor compared to pre-Fup2. No significant differences were found for IgA. Thus, practicing both MM and PE as recovery strategies during lunch breaks could reduce perceived stress after five weeks of practice, with better results for PE. Moreover, practicing MM could improve mental health with effects for 6 months.
Highlights
The lifestyle of advanced industrial societies is characterised by time pressure, competitiveness, job insecurity, 24/7 availability, sensory overload and multitasking in order to successfully fulfill a variety of roles [1]
It has been observed that stress has a negative effect on salivary immunoglobulin A levels—among other immunological parameters [9,10]—the most abundant type of antibody found in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts [11,12,13,14]
The present study proposes that both mindfulness meditation (MM) and physical exercise (PE) practised during lunch breaks could be considered recovery activities from stress during lunch time since they significantly improve perceived stress of employees, where medium and high effect sizes are observed after 5 weeks of practice (Table 3)
Summary
The lifestyle of advanced industrial societies is characterised by time pressure, competitiveness, job insecurity, 24/7 availability, sensory overload and multitasking in order to successfully fulfill a variety of roles [1]. Stress may entail the continuous adaptation of the neuroendocrine and immune systems [8] In this respect, it has been observed that stress has a negative effect on salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels—among other immunological parameters [9,10]—the most abundant type of antibody found in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts [11,12,13,14]. It has been observed that stress has a negative effect on salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels—among other immunological parameters [9,10]—the most abundant type of antibody found in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts [11,12,13,14] This facilitates its laboratory analysis and the interpretation of IgA makes it an ideal parameter
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