Abstract
The present study investigates the impact of 45-min daily mindfulness sessions attended for 11 weeks by 26 Portuguese public healthcare workers (9 men and 17 women) of average age 44.58 years, in measures of psychological functioning. Measures of Mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, FFMQ), Stress (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, DASS-21), Positive and Negative Affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS), Self-compassion (Self-Compassion Scale, SCS), Compassion for Others (Compassion Scale, CS) and Empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, IRI) were collected before and after the 11 weeks training. After the training the participants had statistically higher values (P < .003) of Acting with Awareness (FFMQ) and Self-Compassion (SCS, total scale score), and a lower Self-Judgment (SCS) score. Marginal significant results (.003 < p value<.009) indicated an increase in Positive Affect (PANAS, for men), Describing (FFMQ), and a decrease in Negative Affect (PANAS), Stress (DASS-21), and Over-identification (SCS). These findings suggest that practicing mindfulness meditation may be a useful strategy for improving employees’ psychological well-being.
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Notes
Hedges’ g was calculated using the following formula: (M1-M2)/ [[(n1–1).SD12 + (n2–1).SD22]/(n1 + n2–2)], retrieved from Espírito-Santo and Daniel 2015.
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Acknowledgements
The authors extend their gratitude to all participants in this program, without whom this research would not have been possible. We thank Albertina Lima de Oliveira and Mario Malički for reviewing and commenting the paper, as well as for their useful insights regarding data analysis. We would also like to show our gratitude to Alice Pickering for improving the use of English in the manuscript.
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Gaspar, I., Martinho, A. & Lima, M. Exploring the benefits of a mindfulness program for Portuguese public healthcare workers. Curr Psychol 40, 772–781 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9987-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9987-3