Mindfulness Is Associated With Lower Stress and Higher Work Engagement in a Large Sample of MOOC Participants

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.

A qualitative analysis of free text comments of participants from a massive open online mindfulness course

“…In the subtheme of "channeling attention into productivity", participants found focusing on the present task, regulating responses to deadlines, unitasking and efficiently switching attention, all improved their productivity. Other studies, including a prior study of the MWPP, recognized improvements that mindfulness can bring to productivity (26). A workplace MBI improved team and organizational "climate" and individual performance with greatest improvements seen in co-operation between team members (53).…”

“…The massive open online course MWPP (25) was developed in 2015 by co-authors CH and RC from Monash University, Australia, and its development and delivery have been described in detail elsewhere (26). MWPP was delivered over four weeks via FutureLearn, a United Kingdom digital learning platform, although participants were free to complete the course at their own pace, within a 6 week window.…”

“…The Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance (MWPP) MOOC (25) aims to teach mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and improve wellbeing and work/study performance. A quantitative evaluation of MWPP found that participation was associated with increased mindfulness, reduced perceived stress, and improved work engagement (26). The current study's significance is due to its use of qualitative methodology, uncommonly used in the MOOC literature, to add rich data to the findings about the MWPP and the MOOC literature in general.…”

“Lubricant” or “Stumbling Block”?: The Paradoxical Association Between Team Authoritarian Leadership and Creative Deviance

“…We added individual mindfulness as the moderator for two reasons. First, research has presented that mindful subordinates’ attention to the authoritarian management mode is intentionally open ( Bartlett et al, 2021 ); second, although creative deviance is risky, members with high individual mindfulness are more willing to take this risk to enhance team benefit ( Reb et al, 2015 ). A sample of 13 items is “I experienced my thoughts more as events in my mind than as a necessarily accurate reflection of the way things ‘really’ are.” The reliability coefficient of this individual mindfulness scale was 0.887.…”

Development of A User-Centered Design Framework for Palliative and Hospice Care Patients for a Better Quality of Life Experience

“…Another point of importance is the provision of a physical activity place,( not rigorous exercise), evidence-based research has shown that patients with accessibility to places for walking (Morris & Hardman, 1997;Ouf et al, 2021;Visvizi et al, 2021), meditation (Goyal et al, 2014;Innes et al, 2012;Scott, 2022), yoga (Maddux et al, 2018;Shohani et al, 2018;Woodyard, 2011), and mindfulness (Bartlett et al, 2021;Mohammed et al, 2018) are prone to lower stress levels, lower pain levels and overall general improvement, than ones not partaking in these types of activities. This entails that designers design easily accessible areas that fit these types of activities, both inside and outside to accommodate for weather changes.…”