Effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on teacher mental health and school climate: results of the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial

Kuyken, W; Ball, S; Ganguli, P; et al.Jones, B; Montero-Marin, J; Nuthall, E; Raja, A; Taylor, L; Tudor, K; Viner, RM; Allwood, M; Aukland, L; Dunning, D; Casey, T; Dalrymple, N; De Wilde, K; Farley, E-R; Harper, J; Hinze, V; Kappelmann, N; Kempnich, M; Lord, L; Medlicott, E; Palmer, L; Petit, A; Philips, A; Pryor-Nitsch, I; Radley, L; Sonley, A; Shackleford, J; Tickell, A; MYRIAD Team; Blakemore, S-J; Ukoumunne, OC; Greenberg, MT; Ford, T; Dalgleish, T; Byford, S; Williams, JMG
Date: 21 July 2022
Journal
Evidence-Based Mental Health
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group / Royal College of Psychiatrists / The British Psychological Society
Publisher DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2022-300424
Abstract
Background: Education is broader than academic teaching. It includes teaching students socialemotional skills both directly and indirectly through a positive school climate. Objective: To evaluate if a universal school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) enhances teacher mental health and school climate. Methods: The MYRIAD parallel ...
Background: Education is broader than academic teaching. It includes teaching students socialemotional skills both directly and indirectly through a positive school climate. Objective: To evaluate if a universal school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) enhances teacher mental health and school climate. Methods: The MYRIAD parallel group, cluster RCT (Registration: ISRCTN86619085; Funding: Wellcome Trust [WT104908/Z/14/Z, WT107496/Z/15/Z]) recruited 85 schools (679 teachers) delivering social and emotional teaching across the UK. Schools (clusters) were randomised 1:1 to either continue this provision (TAU) or include universal SBMT. Data on teacher mental health and school climate were collected at prerandomisation, post-personal mindfulness and SBMT teacher training, after delivering SBMT to students, and at 1-year follow-up. Finding: Schools were recruited in academic years 2016/17 and 2017/18. Primary analysis (SBMT: 43 schools/362 teachers; TAU: 41 schools/310 teachers) showed that after delivering SBMT to students, SBMT vs TAU enhanced teachers’ mental health (burnout), and school climate. Adjusted standardised mean differences (SBMT minus TAU) were: exhaustion (-0.22; 95% CI: -0.38, -0.05); personal accomplishment (-0.21; -0.41, 0.02); school leadership (0.24; 0.04, 0.44); and respectful climate (0.26; 0.06, 0.47). Effects on burnout were not significant at 1-year follow-up. Effects on school climate were maintained only for respectful climate. No SBMT-related serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: SBMT supports short-term changes in teacher burnout and school climate. Further work is required to explore how best to sustain improvements. Clinical implications: SBMT has limited effects on teachers’ mental and school climate. Innovative approaches to support and preserve teachers’ mental health and school climate are needed.
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© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.