72 Chapter 4 were at least three standard deviations lower than the mean score. Again, excluding these cases from the data did not substantially alter the results. Reliable change The reliable change for the PSS was 0.50 in the current sample. For the primary outcome perceived stress at post-treatment, 26 people in the intervention group showed reliable change (38.8%, 95% CI = 28.0 - 50.8), while 7 people showed reliable change in the control group (10.0%, 95% CI = 0.05 - 0.19). At follow-up, 28 people showed reliable change in the intervention group (41.8%, 95% CI = 0.31 - 0.54) and 14 people in the control group (20%, 95% CI = 0.12 - 0.31). Moderator analyses No significant moderation effects were found for any of the baseline variables past or present psychological problems, school weight, teachers’ years of experience and age on the primary outcome at post-measurement. DISCUSSION Given the elevated levels of stress symptoms among teachers, the principal aim of this study was to assess whether participation in a standard MBSR training could result in a reduction of perceived stress among elementary school teachers. Results indeed demonstrated that teachers in the MBSR group reported significantly lower perceived stress levels at both post-treatment and the three-month follow-up compared to those in the waitlist control group, with substantial to moderate effect sizes between the groups. While no significant effects emerged regarding teacher-perceived pupil-teacher relationships, teachers in the MBSR group reported significantly higher levels of wellbeing and moderate to large improvements in self-efficacy and classroom climate quality, both at post-treatment and the three-month follow-up. Moreover, beyond these effects, substantial enhancements were observed in proximal outcome measures, including mindfulness skills and self-compassion at both post-treatment and three months follow-up. For emotion regulation, these improvements were of moderate magnitude. Our findings are in line with previous work in predominantly mixed teacher populations, which also found positive effects of mindfulness interventions on teacher stress and well-being (e.g., Klingbeil & Renshaw, 2018; Emerson et al., 2017; Hwang et al., 2017, de Carvalho et al., 2021). The current study adds to these findings by focusing exclusively on elementary school teachers and examining effects of the standard MBSR program without adaptations to the educational field, which might be easier to implement on a larger scale. Where the present study showed large effects on teachers’ self-efficacy, earlier studies on elementary school teachers - using adapted teacher MBIs - show mixed findings. For example, the research conducted by Jennings and colleagues (2017) demonstrated no effects on teacher self-efficacy, while the study by de Carvalho and colleagues (2021)
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