title: Passage meditation reduces perceived stress in health professionals: a randomized, controlled trial.
abstract: The authors evaluated an 8-week, 2-hr per week training for physicians, nurses, chaplains, and other health professionals using nonsectarian, spiritually based self-management tools based on passage meditation (E. Easwaran, 1978/1991). Participants were randomized to intervention (n = 27) or waiting list (n = 31). Pretest, posttest, and 8- and 19-week follow-up data were gathered on 8 measures, including perceived stress, burnout, mental health, and psychological well-being. Aggregated across examinations, beneficial treatment effects were observed on stress (p = .0013) and mental health (p = .03). Treatment effects on stress were mediated by adherence to practices (p = .05). Stress reductions remained large at 19 weeks (84% of the pretest standard deviation, p = .006). Evidence suggests this program reduces stress and may enhance mental health.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA, USA. dougoman@post.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oman
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hedberg
authors.forename: Carl E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Thoresen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D011582:Psychological Theory; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*