Four stress or communication sessions didn't clearly make teachers feel more engaged at work

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   182 secondary school teachers aged 25 to 49 in Yunnan province, China. 58 were in the stress group, 62 in the communication group and 62 in the third group. About half to two thirds of each group were women.

2. 02

   What they did

   Two groups had four weekly group sessions of about 2 hours each. One group learned to handle stress. They did mindfulness and breathing, rethought stressful social moments and made a plan to cope. The other group practised how to talk with others through role-play, talks and feedback. The third group got written notes that described the courses.

3. 03

   What happened

   On a questionnaire, how engaged teachers felt at work rose a little in both course groups. It fell a little in the group with written notes. But the authors found no clear difference between the groups at the end. The paper's summary claims more than its results show, and some of its numbers don't add up. The group with written notes was not checked again three months later.

What the study found

1. No difference

   Four weekly group sessions on handling stress did not clearly make teachers more engaged at work than written notes did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested
   • Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 182 secondary school teachers in China · vs teachers who got written notes only · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

Source