Mindfulness, acceptance and value-based intervention for burnout : mediational roles of learning the elements of the intervention on outcomes

Abstract

The effects of mindfulness-based interventions and ACT on mindfulness and well-being have received a lot of interest, and their mechanisms of change have been studied recently, but still some mechanisms are missing the research attention. The mechanisms of the change that happens during an intervention with people who suffer from work related burnout, have been examined by only a couple of studies. The present study aimed to investigate these mechanisms by looking at the mediating effects of learning mindfulness, acceptance and value-based working (MAV) skills which were measured with a novel Learning Questionnaire developed for the present research project. The data of the present study was driven from 88 participants who took part in the 8-week Muupu-program which is a mindfulness, acceptance and value-based intervention. Results, based on paired samples t-tests, showed that there were significant changes in mindfulness (FFMQ), frequency (ATQ-F) and believability (ATQ-B) of automatic negative thoughts, work ability (WAQ) and illegitimate tasks (BITS). Learning value-based working, or learning mindfulness, acceptance and value-based working in the context of work, partially mediated all of these changes except in illegitimate tasks. The explored new method assessing learning experiences of MAV related skills provided valuable information on the intervention and its strengths and possible weaknesses. This kind of assessment method could provide valuable information in future research on the progress of participants, the mechanisms of change, and the qualities of the interventions in question.