A Proposal to Study the Effects of Adding Pre-Exercise to

Mindfulness-Based Training

Ryan C. Dugan, Samuel E. Dunham, Daniel J. O’Shea, & Josh S. Shiver

Valdosta State University

Logic

• Occupational stress is associated with absenteeism, health insurance claims, performance, and turnover intention.

• Mindfulness training is associated with low stress levels and increased cognitive performance.

• People vary in difficulty being induced into a “mindful” state due individual differences in dispositional and situational factors such as stress and anxiety.

• Exercise is associated with decreased stress and anxiety.

Relevant Social Psychological Principles

• Social Affect • Stress negatively impacts:• Knowledge acquisition• Schema accessibility• Attribution • Attitudes• Persuasion• Resilience• Self-esteem• Coping

Method

• Participants:• One organization• Departments will be coded• Individuals who participated in the previous

mindfulness training program within the organization

Method

• Procedures:• Two pre-exercise mindfulness training sessions per

week, one guided and one self-guided, for 50 weeks

• Pre-exercise activity will include walking the length of the room, and lunging back at a pace set by the instructor

• Levels of the intervention will include 0 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes

• Post-exercise mindfulness training will last 30 minutes for all intervention levels

• Participants will be surveyed once per month

Hypotheses

• H1a: Organizational absenteeism data will show a significant reduction from pre to post-study.

• H1b: The number of health insurance claims will be significantly less at post-study than pre-study.

• H1c: Organizational turnover data will show significant reduction from pre to post-study.

• H1d: Department-based job performance data will show significant increase from pre to post-study.

Hypotheses

• H2a: Individual measures of perceived ease of mindfulness state will significantly increase from pre to post-study.

• H2b: Individual measures of mindfulness level based on FFMQ will significantly increase from pre to post-study.

• H2c: Individual measures of perceived stress will significantly decrease from pre to post-study.

• H2d: Individual measures of turnover intentions will significantly decrease from pre to post-study.

Hypotheses

• H3a: Individual gains in perceived ease of mindfulness will co-vary with measures of amount of exercise outside of work.

• H3b: Individual gains in mindfulness level based on FFMQ will co-vary with measures of amount of exercise outside of work.

Hypotheses

• H4a: Amount of time spent pre-exercising will show an inverted-U relationship with perceived ease of

mindfulness.

• H4b:Amount of time spent pre-exercising will show an inverted-U relationship with level of mindfulness based on FFMQ.

Analyses

• Correlations• To examine convergent and discriminant validity

• t-tests• To interpret changes in organizational measures

• ANOVAs• To compare differences across levels of the intervention

Discussion: Organizational Measures

• Direct effects:• Significant decreases in absenteeism, number of health

insurance claims, and turnover• Significant increases in departmental job performance

• Indirect effects:• Increased organizational efficiency • Improvement in the quality of the work environment• Increase in revenue

Discussion: Individual Measures

• Direct effects:• Significant increase in perceived ease of mindfulness

and FFMQ mindfulness• Significant decrease in perceived level of stress

• Indirect effects:• Individuals may partake in more exercise outside of

work, which could lead to even further decreases in stress and anxiety

Discussion: Demographical Differences

• Direct effects:• Significant differences would be considered a limitation

of the study

• Indirect effects:• Significant differences could provide insight on how to

target specific audiences• Further research needed

Discussion: Differences in Intervention

• Direct effects:• An optimal level might exist, rather than only a

minimum level

• Indirect effects:• Limitation in organizational application as the likelihood

of implementing small time-periods is greater than larger time-periods

Discussion: Potential Limitations

• Generalizability of results

• Participants are volunteers

• Assumption of full involvement in participants

• Self-report biases

References

• Available upon request via email• rcdugan@valdosta.edu• sedunham@valdosta.edu• djoshea@valdosta.edu• jsshiver@valdosta.edu