Stress Rx
To see if mindfulness might buffer against work stress faced by emergency care professionals, researchers in New York and Switzerland asked 190 emergency room medical personnel to complete surveys regarding their dispositional mindfulness, anxiety, depression, social support, and life events. Questionnaires were completed just after they began working in an emergency room, then again three and six months later. Higher levels of mindfulness at baseline were linked to less anxiety, depression, and social impairment over time even after accounting for work stress, negative life events, and low perceived support from colleagues. Those reporting more mindfulness were also less likely to feel depressed over time even in the absence of workplace social support. This suggests that mindfulness may help emergency room workers to better cope with work stress.
May I Help?
A randomized controlled trial from California State University San Marcos tested whether mindfulness training caused participants to act helpfully toward people of other racial groups. Researchers assigned 78 white women to either a meditation group, or a control group with sham meditation instruction. Prior to training, everyone completed surveys assessing mindfulness, empathy, agreeableness, anti-Black prejudice, and attitudes on social equality. Both groups then received 20 minutes of instruction in small groups for three consecutive days. To assess helping behavior before and after, experimenters led each participant into an empty room with one chair where they were presented with two scenarios. In the first, a person entered the room and dropped a stack of papers. In the second, a person on crutches entered and stood against the wall. Both identified as Black or African American. These scenarios lasted roughly one minute. Those higher in mindfulness at the beginning of the study were more likely to engage in helping behavior—such as helping pick up the papers, or standing to give the person on crutches their chair—regardless of group. People in the mindfulness training group were more helpful than the control group. Lastly, participants in the mindfulness group who were lower in mindfulness at the beginning of the study were more likely to help others following training. More studies are needed to see if these findings hold up with men and with those of other racial groups.
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Jill Suttie March 2, 2022
Misty Pratt February 17, 2022
Robert Huber June 3, 2022
