Impact of Mindfulness Training on Stress-related Health Outcomes in Law Enforcement

NCT03488875 | Completed

• 4 other identifiers: 2017-15292017-R2-CX-0033A483000L&S
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 115
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In a sample of 120 officers from Dane County law enforcement agencies, the investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial of an 8-week mindfulness-based training program for police officers, Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT), and investigating the impact of this training on subjective responses to stress, stress-related psychological and physical health outcomes, and biological and behavioral correlates of perceived stress. While the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions have been documented in a variety of populations, this will be the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind of law enforcement personnel. In addition to self-report measures, this study assesses an array of objective biological and behavioral outcomes both in the laboratory and in the field that may speak to mechanisms of change involved in symptom reduction.

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Sleep; Inflammation; Mental Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in perceived occupational stress

  Change in combined scores of perceived operational and organizational stressors from the Police Stress Questionnaire (McCreary \& Thompson, 2004) from baseline to 3 months. Each of these 2 scales has 20 items with 1-7 ratings, where higher scores indicate greater stress (1=no stress at all, 7=A lot of stress). Organizational and operational stress scales will be summed to create a single value with a range of 40-280.

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

• Change in diurnal cortisol slope

  Saliva samples collected on each of 3 days will be used to calculate diurnal cortisol slope, defined as the change between the peak cortisol response in the 45 minutes after awakening and cortisol levels just prior to bedtime, with a hypothesized steeper slope in the intervention vs. waitlist group at post-intervention (3 months) vs. baseline.

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Change in cortisol awakening response

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

• Change in peripheral inflammatory markers

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

• Change in hyperarousal symptoms

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months), follow-up (6 months)

• Change in subjective sleep quality

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

• Change in perceived stress

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

Other Outcomes (12)

• Change in hair cortisol concentration

  Baseline, follow-up (6 months)

• Change in restful minutes of sleep

  5-7 nights of sleep will be monitored at baseline and post-intervention (3 months)

• Change in behavioral pattern separation ability

  Baseline, post-intervention (3 months)

Study Arms (2)

mMBRT

EXPERIMENTAL

Individuals in the mMBRT group will receive an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention in groups of approximately 15 individuals in 8 weekly 2-hour classes (one of these classes, toward the end of the course, is approximately 4 hours and integrates many of the practices and teachings covered throughout the training program).

Behavioral: mMBRT

Waitlist control group

NO INTERVENTION

Individuals in the waitlist control group will complete the same assessments as those in the active treatment group, but will not be offered any intervention until the conclusion of the trial. At this time, control group participants will be offered the intervention.

Interventions

mMBRT BEHAVIORAL

Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT) is an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention developed specifically for police officers, which is similar to and inspired by a program developed by researchers at Pacific (OR) University (Christopher, Goerling et al., 2016). mMBRT includes 8 weekly 2-hour classes involving guided meditation practice, gentle movement, and group-based discussion (the 7th class is a longer, 4-hour class). The total class time is about 18 hours over 8 weeks, and participants are asked to engage in home practice for up to 30 minutes/day, 6 days/week throughout the intervention.

Also known as: Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training, MBRT

mMBRT

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• At least 18 years of age
• Capable of giving informed consent
• Fluent in English
• Currently employed sworn law enforcement officer working in the Dane County Sheriff's Office, Madison Police Department, or University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

You may not qualify if:

• Extensive prior experience in meditation practice, or previous completion of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training, or a substantively similar meditation training program
• A work schedule that precludes one from committing to regular participation in the 8-week training program
• Command staff working in a supervisory role

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Wisconsin, Madison: lead
• U.S. Department of Justice: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, 53703, United States

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Grupe DW, Stoller JL, Alonso C, McGehee C, Smith C, Mumford JA, Rosenkranz MA, Davidson RJ. The Impact of Mindfulness Training on Police Officer Stress, Mental Health, and Salivary Cortisol Levels. Front Psychol. 2021 Sep 3;12:720753. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720753. eCollection 2021.

  PMID: 34539521 DERIVED

• Chen S, Grupe DW. Trait Mindfulness Moderates the Association Between Stressor Exposure and Perceived Stress in Law Enforcement Officers. Mindfulness (N Y). 2021;12(9):2325-2338. doi: 10.1007/s12671-021-01707-4. Epub 2021 Aug 5.

  PMID: 34377216 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological; Inflammation; Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Personal Satisfaction

Study Officials

• Daniel W Grupe, PhD

  University of Wisconsin, Madison

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Participants cannot be made blind to study assignment due to the nature of the intervention. Baseline (T1) measures will be collected prior to treatment assignment. Every effort will be taken to minimize knowledge of group assignment by the study team, in particular the PI and other individuals involved in data analysis; however, the small size of the study team and overlapping roles of team members may preclude masking of group assignment for all members of the study team.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants are randomized to an active treatment group and a waitlist control group.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 22, 2018
• First Posted: April 5, 2018
• Study Start: March 6, 2018
• Primary Completion: October 1, 2019
• Study Completion: December 10, 2019
• Last Updated: January 18, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-01

Locations

US (1)