Effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on teacher mental health and school climate: results of the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Education is broader than academic teaching. It includes teaching students social-emotional skills both directly and indirectly through a positive school climate.

Objective: To evaluate if a universal school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) enhances teacher mental health and school climate.

Methods: The My Resilience in Adolescence parallel group, cluster randomised controlled trial (registration: ISRCTN86619085; funding: Wellcome Trust (WT104908/Z/14/Z, WT107496/Z/15/Z)) recruited 85 schools (679 teachers) delivering social and emotional teaching across the UK. Schools (clusters) were randomised 1:1 to either continue this provision (teaching as usual (TAU)) or include universal SBMT. Data on teacher mental health and school climate were collected at prerandomisation, postpersonal mindfulness and SBMT teacher training, after delivering SBMT to students, and at 1-year follow-up.

Finding: Schools were recruited in academic years 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. Primary analysis (SBMT: 43 schools/362 teachers; TAU: 41 schools/310 teachers) showed that after delivering SBMT to students, SBMT versus TAU enhanced teachers' mental health (burnout) and school climate. Adjusted standardised mean differences (SBMT minus TAU) were: exhaustion (-0.22; 95% CI -0.38 to -0.05); personal accomplishment (-0.21; -0.41, -0.02); school leadership (0.24; 0.04, 0.44); and respectful climate (0.26; 0.06, 0.47). Effects on burnout were not significant at 1-year follow-up. Effects on school climate were maintained only for respectful climate. No SBMT-related serious adverse events were reported.

Conclusions: SBMT supports short-term changes in teacher burnout and school climate. Further work is required to explore how best to sustain improvements.

Clinical implications: SBMT has limited effects on teachers' mental and school climate. Innovative approaches to support and preserve teachers' mental health and school climate are needed.

Keywords: Child & adolescent psychiatry; Depression & mood disorders.

Figure 1

Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials from diagram for trial schools and teachers. ‘Missing’ is the number of schools (K)/teachers (n) that did not provide data on any of the outcomes at the subsequent timepoint. Teachers could be temporarily lost to follow-up if not in school for a given timepoint. Six hundred seventy-nine teachers in total were recruited, but seven were from a school which dropped out. So only 672 teachers were available for analysis. *None of the teachers at one school provided any follow-up data at the postintervention timepoint. However, teachers from this school provided data at the 1-year follow-up. First Academic Year-Autumn term: prerandomisation (baseline); Preintervention-Autumn Term: postpersonal mindfulness (MBCT-L) and school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) teacher training; Post intervention-Summer Term: after delivery of the SBMT to students; 1-yrF/U-Autumn Term: 1-year follow-up measure.

Figure 2

Teacher selection through the school-based mindfulness training. This represents teacher flow through the school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) and implementation, and is explained in the Methods and Results sections. Teacher attrition is shown in figure 1. Baseline for student data collection-autumn: prerandomisation (baseline); prestudent SBMT-autumn: postpersonal mindfulness (MBCT-L) and SBMT teacher training; post-student SBMT-summer: after delivery of the SBMT to students.