Feasibility and effectiveness of an adapted mindfulness-based intervention to reduce stress in the workplace: a non-randomized controlled pilot trial in the Spanish context

The prevalence of stress at work is high, contributing to health problems, reduced productivity and a burden for society. Mindfulness-based interventions may reduce stress, but they are very demanding due to the amount of practice required. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of delivering a Workplace-Adapted Mindfulness-Based Intervention (WA-MBI) of 7 weekly, 2-hour sessions to employee volunteers and the potential effectiveness of the WA-MBI in reducing stress. A non-randomized, two-arm, waitlist-controlled feasibility trial was carried out. Measurements were taken in a pre-test, post-test and 6-month follow-up. Recruitment and attrition ratios, acceptability, credibility and perceived stress were assessed. The differences between groups were evaluated using mixed-effects models. A 64.2% reduction from the initial group of volunteers (n=190) to the final group of participants (n=68) was observed. The attrition rate at the 6-month follow-up was 45.6% (n=37). Subjects in the WA-MBI group attended a mean of 4.53 (SD=2.06) sessions. The mean credibility value was 7.58 (SD=1.07). Significant decreases in perceived stress favouring the MBI group at post-test (B=-3.65; p=0.003) and 6-month follow-up (B=-6.20; p<0.001) were observed. The WA-MBI appears to be a feasible and potentially effective programme to reduce stress in the workplace. However, more efforts to improve the practical aspects that favour enrolment and reduce attrition would be desirable.