Online mindfulness intervention reduces fatigue, negative work-related worry

These are the findings of Dawn Querstret and Professor Mark Cropley from Surrey University in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation. The research is being presented at the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology annual conference in York.

Persistent work-related rumination, in particular where individuals experience negative emotional thoughts (affective rumination), has previously been shown to be related to increased levels of stress and work-related fatigue.

Stress and its associated physical response are known to have negative health effects in the long run. Business concerns over employee welfare and the impact of time off work highlight the importance of finding ways to help employees reduce the pressure and impact work-related worry may be having.

In the study, 127 participants took part in the four-week internet-based mindfulness stress-reduction course. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. Participants levels of affective rumination, sleep and fatigue was measured over four time points (pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at three- and six-month follow up).

The intervention had a significant positive effect on levels of affective rumination, sleep quality and fatigue for participants in the intervention group in comparison to the control group.

The researchers said: "Research has shown that there are significant numbers of people who are suffering from work-related fatigue and rumination. We ourselves have found evidence of the causal relationship between how people worry about work and their ability to recover and switch off effectively at the end of the day.

"Mindfulness helps people to develop awareness of their thoughts and emotions in a positive way helping them make more effective choices and gain over their responses to different situations.

"Online mindfulness interventions may provide a cost effective way for organisations to improve the health of their employees whilst help reduce the long-term negative health consequences of work stress."