Effects of an 8-Week App-Based Mindfulness Intervention on Mental Health in Working Women: Randomized Controlled Trial.

An 8-week mindfulness-based self-help intervention delivered via a smartphone app improved life satisfaction and reduced perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and trait anger among working women. In a randomized trial with 106 women in the intervention group and 107 in a waitlist control, the app group showed significantly greater life satisfaction and lower depressive and anxiety symptoms after the program. The intervention did not significantly improve work-related, family-related, or work-to-family conflict indicators, suggesting that higher-intensity interventions may be needed for those outcomes.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Although working women experience increased work-related stress, preventive interventions to reduce its negative effects on their mental health are insufficient. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness-based self-help intervention via a smartphone app across 4 domains (general psychological, work-related, family-related, and work-to-conflict) among working women. This study recruited women workers via various media sources, such as crowdsourcing sites and social networking services. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=106) or waitlist control groups (n=107). Participants in the intervention group practiced guided mindfulness meditation every day at their convenience via an app on their cell phones for 8 weeks. The app provides an 8-week program with 4 meditation contents per 2 weeks. Participants in the waitlist control group lived as usual for 8 weeks. We conducted web-based questionnaires to assess participants' general psychological (life satisfaction, perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, trait anger, and mindfulness), work-related (work performance, job satisfaction, quantitative job overload, and job control), family-related (family satisfaction and partner satisfaction), and work-to-family conflict indicators. An analysis of covariance, controlled for preintervention scores, revealed that the intervention significantly increased life satisfaction (b=1.47, β=0.11; P=.005) and decreased perceived stress (b=-2.00, β=-0.17; P=.01), depressive and anxiety symptoms (b=-1.24, β=-0.15; P=.02), and trait anger (reaction; b=-0.59, β=-0.11; P=.04). The intervention group demonstrated significantly increased life satisfaction (t93=-3.36; P=.001) and decreased depressive and anxiety symptoms (t93=2.35; P=.02). The app was effective in reducing perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and trait anger (reaction), and in improving life satisfaction among working women. However, to improve work- and family-related indicators, higher-intensity interventions may be required, such as modifying the intervention content or extending its duration. University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000051796; https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000059110.