The Effectiveness of a Four-Week Online Mindfulness Training Course on Individual Mindfulness Skills and Personal Perception of Stress in Company Employees Working from Home

Abstract

Working from home comes with many benefits. However, employees are often exposed to various stressors when working outside of the traditional workplace environment. The subjective experience of these stressors is related to one’s perception of the situation and the perceived resources available. As working from home has become the new normal for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is in the interest of companies to provide employees with tools to cope with these stressors. One such tool is online mindfulness training. This study investigates how a four-week online mindfulness training influences an individual’s mindfulness skills, subjective perception, and processing of stressors. Forty participants working from home at the time of the study were examined in a pre-test using a pre-post design in which the experimental group participated in a four-week online training course in mindfulness. Since the results showed a significantly reduced subjective perception of stress in the experimental group after mindfulness training, a long-term study was conducted including 40 additional participants. The study revealed a training success of at least three months. It thus introduces new possibilities for effective stress management in all workplace settings.