Impact of Mindfulness Training on the Well-Being of Educators

Objective: As awareness of educator stress and burnout is at the forefront of issues faced in the education system, programs are being implemented to focus on the well-being and betterment of educators. Mindfulness is one such practice that has been found to increase wellness and, in many cases, decrease negative outcomes. In this study, the effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program were measured in grade-school (K-12) educators. Design: A longitudinal noncontrolled trial of educators who completed baseline and short- and long-term postintervention surveys. Location: Miami-Dade County. Subjects: Two hundred thirty-six educators who worked in K-12 public and private schools. Intervention: An 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. Outcome measures: Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Self-Compassion Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators, Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29) for measuring physical and mental health functionality. Results: The multiple linear regression analysis of the short-term cohort data yielded statistically significant improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal accomplishment and decreases in isolation, anxiety, fatigue, and emotional exhaustion. In the long-term cohort, repeated measures regression showed self-compassion and mindfulness continued to improve significantly, whereas negative outcomes of fatigue and sleep disturbance showed statistically significant decreases. Effect sizes were calculated for all the measures, many of which were medium sized, total mindfulness (0.69), self-compassion (0.051), and sleep disturbance (0.49). Conclusion: Findings are consistent with previous literature and support the need for such programs that impact the educator's personal and professional experience.