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. 2021 Sep 10:12:724126.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.724126. eCollection 2021.

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

Larissa Bartlett  1   2 , Marie-Jeanne Buscot  2 , Aidan Bindoff  1 , Richard Chambers  3 , Craig Hassed  3   4
Affiliations

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

Larissa Bartlett et al. Front Psychol. .

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.

Keywords: meditation; mindfulness; online course; stress; work engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

CH and RC are the developers and lead facilitators of the course being evaluated. Neither author receives financial remuneration from either of those roles. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mediation path showing direct and indirect effects of mindfulness on work engagement.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Difference in means from pre- to post-training for mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement. Violin plots show the kernel density of observations at each score on the Y axis reflected along the midline, to illustrate the distribution of scores by timepoint. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals, but because the sample is so large they appear to be super-imposed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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