The Work Engagement and Wellbeing Study

NCT04631302 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 2020.Vainre_Swell
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 241
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Mindfulness and exercise are both widely used to improve mental health and well-being. Some people find that these activities also improve their ability to focus. This study aims to find out whether mindfulness and light exercise could be similarly effective in improving mental wellbeing and engagement at work. The study further investigates the cognitive processes (e.g., memory and attention skills) that might improve as a result of mindfulness and exercise.

Conditions

Mindfulness; Exercise

Keywords

Mindfulness; physical exercise; wellbeing; workplace; web-based intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Work Role Functioning Questionnaire (WRFQ).

  All participants will complete the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire's updated version. It is a 25-item measure to capture the perceived difficulties in meeting work demands. Items are rated on a 5-point scale where 0 is difficult all the time and 5 is difficult none of the time. A 6th option allows participants to denote "does not apply for my job". The subscale and total score are summed, with a minimum score 0 and maximum score 100, with higher scores indicating better work functioning. The questionnaire has not been validated in English but is available in English and validations done in Spain, The Netherlands, Norway, and Brazil have shown good Cronbach alphas (0.7-0.9). The primary hypothesis will be evaluated with a time (pre, post) x intervention (mindfulness, light exercise) interaction predicting score on the WRFQ.

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes (15)

• Work and Social Adjustment Scale

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

• Daily work engagement

  Days which participant works during the 4 weeks of intervention. For example, if working full-time and if Monday is Day 1 of intervention then measurements will take place on Day 1...5, Day 8...12, Day 16...20, Day 23...27.

• Emotional Stop Signal Task: Reaction times (in both, go and stop trials)

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

• Emotional Stop Signal Task: response accuracy (failure or success in inhibiting response)

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

• Emotional Stop Signal Task: variability in reaction time throughout the task (ability to overcome errors).

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

Other Outcomes (5)

• Retention in the trial

  Baseline (pre-intervention); 1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure); 12-week post-intervention

• Preferred course

  1 week post-intervention (primary outcome measure);

• Engagement in courses

  Each of 4 weeks during the intervention.

Study Arms (2)

Mindfulness

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Be Mindful

Light Physical Exercise

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: Light exercise course

Interventions

Be Mindful BEHAVIORAL

Be mindful is an online course run by the Mental Health Foundation and Wellmind Media. It was developed together with British mindfulness instructors and offers access to its course materials and instructional videos through a website (http://www.bemindfulonline.com). The course consists of 11 sessions led by two mindfulness teachers, one female, one male. Using a variety of media (videos, assignments, audio tracks and e-mails), participants are taught to use formal as well as informal mindfulness techniques. The course lasts 4 weeks. For each week, participants are asked to do a daily formal mediation practice (up to 30 minutes but it varies from week to week) and one or two informal exercises.

Mindfulness

Light exercise course BEHAVIORAL

The control condition involves light physical exercises aimed at increasing mobility, reducing stiffness, improving circulation, and avoiding pain or repetitive strain injuries that may result from sedentary or repetitive tasks common in office environments. The exercises will include simple whole-body slightly aerobic exercises such as rotation of limbs and stretching. The course was developed by Dr Julieta Galante, a public health doctor, together with an expert in body posture re-education and body techniques. The course is designed to match with the mindfulness intervention condition in duration and media (length of videos, amount of written instructions). It also replicates the encouraged use of short breaks (of seconds or minutes) throughout the workday to focus on wellbeing, as occurs in mindfulness.

Also known as: Physical exercise

Light Physical Exercise

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Employee at one of the participating organisations
• Based in the UK

You may not qualify if:

• Is currently on a long-term leave
• Is currently suffering from severe periods of anxiety, depression or hypomania/mania;
• Is experiencing other severe mental illnesses;
• Has had a recent bereavement or major loss;
• Has already completed a mindfulness course or have meditated more than 10 hours in the past 10 years.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit: lead
• University of Cambridge: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit

Cambridge, CB2 7EF, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (32)

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  BACKGROUND

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• Gallasch CH, Alexandre NM, Amick B 3rd. Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity of the work role functioning questionnaire to Brazilian Portuguese. J Occup Rehabil. 2007 Dec;17(4):701-11. doi: 10.1007/s10926-007-9103-2. Epub 2007 Oct 2.

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• Glomb, T. M., Duffy, M. K., Bono, J. E., & Yang, T. (2011). Mindfulness at Work. In A. Joshi, H. Liao, & J. J. Martocchio (Eds.), Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (Vol. 30, pp. 115-157). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-7301(2011)0000030005

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• Johansen T, Lund T, Jensen C, Momsen AH, Eftedal M, Oyeflaten I, Braathen TN, Stapelfeldt CM, Amick B, Labriola M. Cross-cultural adaptation of the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire 2.0 to Norwegian and Danish. Work. 2018;59(4):471-478. doi: 10.3233/WOR-182705.

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• Vainre M, Dalgleish T, Watson P, Haag C, Dercon Q, Galante J, Hitchcock C. Work Engagement and Well-being Study (SWELL): a randomised controlled feasibility trial evaluating the effects of mindfulness versus light physical exercise at work. BMJ Ment Health. 2024 Feb 28;27(1):e300885. doi: 10.1136/bmjment-2023-300885.

  PMID: 38423582 DERIVED

• Vainre M, Galante J, Watson P, Dalgleish T, Hitchcock C. Protocol for the Work Engagement and Well-being Study (SWELL): a randomised controlled feasibility trial evaluating the effects of mindfulness versus light physical exercise at work. BMJ Open. 2022 Apr 12;12(4):e050951. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050951.

  PMID: 35414541 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Maris Vainre, MA

  MRC CBU

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Outcomes assessor will be blind to participant allocation
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 5, 2020
• First Posted: November 17, 2020
• Study Start: February 23, 2021
• Primary Completion: March 23, 2022
• Study Completion: March 31, 2023
• Last Updated: November 13, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL

Locations

GB (1)