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Reducing Teachers' Psychological Distress through a Mindfulness Training Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Clemente Franco ,
Israel Mañas ,
Adolfo J. Cangas ,
Emilio Moreno  and
José Gallego
Clemente Franco*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Almería (Spain)
Israel Mañas
Affiliation:
Universidad de Almería (Spain)
Adolfo J. Cangas
Affiliation:
Universidad de Almería (Spain)
Emilio Moreno
Affiliation:
Universidad de Huelva (Spain)
José Gallego
Affiliation:
Universidad de Almería (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Clemente Franco Justo. Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación. Edificio A.Universidad de Almería. Ctra. De Sacramento s/n. La Cañada de San Urbano. 04120 Almería. (Spain). Phone: +34- 950015499. Email: cfranco@ual.es
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Abstract

Teachers constitute one of the professional collectives most affected by psychological problems. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to examine the efficacy of a mindfulness training programme to reduce psychological distress in a group of teachers. The sample comprised 68 teachers of Secondary School Education, from various public schools; half of them formed the experimental group, and the another half the control group. The levels of psychological distress were measured, in both groups, by the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) before and after the application of the programme. Statistical analysis shows the significant reduction of three general measures of psychological distress (Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index, and Positive Symptom Total), as well in all its dimensions (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensibility, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism), in the experimental group compared with the control group. Follow-up measures show that these results were maintained for four months after termination of the intervention in the experimental group.

Los docentes constituyen uno de los colectivos profesionales más afectados por problemas de tipo psicológico. El objetivo de este estudio cuasi-experimental es examinar la eficacia de un programa de entrenamiento en mindfulness para reducir el malestar psicológico en un grupo de docentes. La muestra estuvo constituida por 68 profesores de Educación Secundaria, de varios centros públicos; la mitad de ellos formaron el grupo control, y la otra mitad el grupo experimental. Los niveles de malestar psicológico fueron evaluados, en ambos grupos, mediante el Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) antes y después de aplicación del programa. Los análisis estadísticos muestran la reducción significativa en las tres medidas generales de malestar psicológico (Índice de Severidad Global, Índice de Distrés de Síntomas Positivos y Total de Síntomas Positivos), así como en todas sus dimensiones (somatización, obsesión-compulsión, sensibilidad interpersonal, depresión, ansiedad, hostilidad, ansiedad fóbica, ideación paranoide y psicoticismo), en el grupo experimental en comparación con el grupo control. Medidas de seguimiento mostraron que estos resultados se mantuvieron transcurridos cuatro meses tras la finalización de la intervención en el grupo experimental.

Keywords

teacherpsychological distressmindfulnessquasi-experimentdocentesmalestar psicológicomindfulnesscuasi-experimento
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , November 2010 , pp. 655 - 666
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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