39 Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction intervention for elementary school teachers: a mixed method study (MBI) for teachers in primary education. In contrast to the control group, the intervention group displayed significant reduction of stress and perceived time pressure. In addition, teachers in the intervention group reported an improvement of mental health and wellbeing. They experienced more self-awareness, mindfulness (i.e., observing without judgement) and better regulation of emotions. They reported to be able to deal with their pupils’ behaviour more effectively and more compassionately. This is reflected in the fact that 91% of the teachers in Jennings’ study reported to be more capable of starting and maintaining a supporting relationship with their pupils. The study by Jennings and colleagues delivers the most compelling evidence so far that MBIs can contribute positively to stress experience, mental health, executive functions, teacher skills, the classroom climate quality and the pupil-teacher relationship in elementary school teachers. Earlier studies in teachers from various forms of education (Roeser, 2016; Roeser, et al., 2012; Skinner & Beers, 2016) showed that when teachers can deploy mindfulness skills, they were more capable of assessing emotionally provoking situations in the classroom and reacting adequately. This resulted in less stress and more mental well-being. This way, mindfulness skills positively affected the interaction with pupils and the pupil-teacher relationship. Because of the lack of studies outside the USA, we conducted an uncontrolled pilot study to examine the potential of an MBSR program within 71 elementary school teachers. After the training, participants showed a significant reduction of perceived stress (PSS, Perceived Stress Scale) and improvements of psychological, emotional and social well-being (MHC-SF, Mental Health Continuum-Short Form). In addition, the pilot study showed a significant increase in both mindfulness skills (FFMQ-SF, The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form) as well as self-compassion (SCS-SF, SelfCompassion Scale-short Form), both of which are related to mental health. In addition, we tested several potential moderators and found indications for possible moderating effects of school weight and current or past psychological problems on the impact of the MBSR program. Because of these promising results we will test the effectiveness of MBSR in Dutch elementary school teachers on larger scale including a control group by conducting an RCT. Aims of the trial The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of MBSR in contrast to a wait list control condition in reducing perceived stress in elementary school teachers. The secondary aim is to examine the effects of MBSR on: a) absenteeism of teachers, b) teachers’ mental health, c) teacher skills, d) teachers’ experienced classroom climate quality and pupil-teacher relationship. 3
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