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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Using mindfulness to reduce occupational stress and burnout in music teachers: A randomized controlled trial (Varona, 2019)

Review Guidelines

Causal Evidence Guidelines

Absence of conflict of interest. 

Citation

Varona, D. A. (2019). Using mindfulness to reduce occupational stress and burnout in music teachers: A randomized controlled trial. (Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (2305850906)

Highlights

  • The study's objective was to examine the impact of a mindfulness training program for music educators on occupational stress & burnout. 

  • This study was a randomized controlled trial that used data collected from surveys to compare the levels of occupational stress and burnout among music educators who participated in a mindfulness training to levels of occupational stress and burnout among a control group of music educators who did not participate in the training.  

  • Study findings suggested that participation in the mindfulness training intervention lowered levels of occupational stress and burnout for music educators. The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because it was a randomized controlled trial with high attrition and the study’s statistical analysis does not meet CLEAR’s standards. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the mindfulness intervention; other factors are likely to have contributed.   

Intervention Examined

Mindfulness Training for Music Educators (MTME)

Features of the Intervention

As part of the study, the author designed a four-week mindfulness training course for music educators, referred to as Mindfulness Training for Music Educators (MTME). The four-week MTME course included a variety of mindfulness-based learning content, including guided audio meditations, research-based articles, and videos. Content was selected with music educators in mind and was presented in a structured sequence that introduced techniques and strategies for reducing burnout and occupational stress. 

Features of the Study

This study was a randomized controlled trial that used surveys to compare the levels of occupational stress and burnout among music educators who participated in a mindfulness training to levels of occupational stress and burnout among a control group of music educators who did not participate in the training. Study participants were music educators who were recruited by email via the National Association for Music Educators member list.  

The author recruited 500 music educators to participate in the study and randomly assigned half of the study participants to the treatment condition and the other half to the control condition. Music educators in the treatment condition received the mindfulness training. Music educators in the control condition received no training. 444 study participants were surveyed at baseline. Of these, 194 dropped out of the study before the end of the four-week study period. The final analysis sample consisted of 250 participants, with 90 educators in the treatment group and 160 educators in the control group. 

Study participants were surveyed at baseline (pre-intervention), mid-point (2 weeks), and following the conclusion of the four-week training period (post-intervention). The author developed a survey that measured levels of participant burnout and stress and collected baseline demographic characteristics and occupational information. Measures of occupational stress and burnout were adapted from pre-existing survey instruments: the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) and Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES). 

The author used a statistical model to compare levels of occupational stress and burnout across survey waves, controlling for participant characteristics. The model used random effects to allow intercepts and time trends (across survey waves) to vary by individual while also estimating the sample-wide impact of the intervention.   

Findings

​​​​​​Health and Safety

  • Study findings suggested a statistically significant decrease in levels of occupational stress among music educators who received the mindfulness intervention, compared to music educators who did not receive the intervention.  

Attitudes

  • Study findings suggested a statistically significant decrease in levels of burnout among music educators who received the mindfulness intervention, compared to music educators who did not receive the intervention.

Considerations for Interpreting the Findings

This study was a randomized controlled trial with high levels of study attrition. The study’s analysis model included individual-level random effects, which can produce biased estimates if unobserved individual characteristics are correlated with variables included in the statistical model. CLEAR standards require authors to present the results of a specification test that justifies the use of random effects in any statistical analysis. Because the study had high attrition and lacked a specification test justifying the use of random effects, this study receives a low evidence rating.  

Causal Evidence Rating

The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because it was a randomized controlled trial with high attrition and the study’s statistical analysis did not meet CLEAR’s standards. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the mindfulness intervention; other factors are likely to have contributed.

Reviewed by CLEAR

January 2023