81 Potential mediators in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program for elementary school teachers to reduce perceived stress and improve well-being and classroom climate: A multiple mediation model INTRODUCTION Teachers experience a high level of work-related stress (Adriaens et al., 2016; Agyapong et al., 2022; OECD, 2020). In the Netherlands, 37% of the elementary school teachers and 34% of the secondary school teachers experience high levels of stress (Sapulete et al., 2020). Additionally teacher absenteeism due to work or workload is higher than in any other profession (Central Bureau for Statistics, 2024). Teachers’ stress does not only impact their own health, but also influences the quality of pupil-teacher relationships and classroom climate quality (Flook et al., 2013; Spilt et al., 2011). Eventually, this could affect pupils’ health and academic achievements (Harding et al., 2019; Klusmann et al., 2016). One promising method to reduce stress and improve well-being among teachers are mindfulness-based interventions (MBI’s; Agyapong et al., 2023; Bonde et al., 2022; Emerson et al., 2017; Hidajat et al., 2023; Hwang et al., 2019; Oliveira et al., 2021). Mindfulness can reduce stress by creating emotional awareness, developing regulation of emotions, and providing insight in behavioral patterns (Tang et al., 2015). One of the most widely adopted MBIs is the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program of Jon Kabat-Zinn (2013). Although increasingly studies are conducted to examine the effectiveness of MBIs among teachers (e.g. Agyapong et al., 2023; Bonde et al., 2022; Lensen et al., 2024), so far only few studies report mechanisms of change of the program’s outcome (Davis et al. 2024; Emerson et al., 2017; Tsang et al., 2021). This is unfortunate, as knowledge of the working mechanisms and essential elements of MBSR programs will enable us to understand what makes these programs effective and develop more effective MBSR programs for teachers in the future. The aim of this study is to gain more insight into the mechanisms driving the effects of MBSR on perceived stress and well-being of Dutch teachers. In addition, the effect of the program on perceived classroom climate quality and the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship was studied since lower stress and higher levels of wellbeing among teachers was found to be related to improvements in classroom climate (Jennings et al., 2017). For this study, data of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) by Lensen et al. (2024) were used, in which MBSR was proven effective in reducing stress of Dutch elementary school teachers at both post-treatment and three-month follow-up. In addition, improvements of well-being, and classroom climate quality at post-test and follow-up were found in the intervention versus control group. In this study, four possible mediators were chosen to gain more insight into the possible mediators of the effectiveness of the MBSR program on teacher’s perceived stress, well-being and classroom climate quality. The first factor that was investigated was mindfulness skills. According to Bear and colleagues (2008) mindfulness includes five 5
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