A short-term mindfulness intervention: effects on stress, happiness and productivity in the workplace

Negative stress and unhappiness are two factors that can negatively influence psychological well-being in working adults and can also influence workplace productivity. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress in working adults; however it is unclear by which mechanisms its positive effects are applied. Thirty-three adults working in a professional complaint handling workplace were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness condition or an active control condition to investigate whether a short-term mindfulness intervention would improve trait mindfulness, stress, happiness and productivity over a four week period. Despite observing no significant changes in trait mindfulness, happiness or productivity, the mindfulness condition experienced significant reductions of self-reported stress from pre-post intervention. No significant changes were observed in any of the variables for the control condition. The current study provides promising results in terms of stress reduction in working adults, whilst raising questions regarding the mechanisms by which stress reduction is achieved and highlights that the efficacy of short-term mindfulness interventions needs further study.