title: Effect of transcendental meditation on employee stress, depression, and burnout: a randomized controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Workplace stress and burnout are pervasive problems, affecting employee performance and personal health.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on psychological distress and burnout among staff at a residential therapeutic school for students with severe behavioral problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 40 secondary schoolteachers and support staff at the Bennington School in Vermont, a therapeutic school for children with behavioral problems, were randomly assigned to either practice of the Transcendental Meditation program or a wait-list control group. The Transcendental Meditation course was provided by certified instructors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and four months, and included perceived stress, depression, and burnout. A multivariate analysis of covariance was used to determine overall effects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of the 4-month intervention data indicated a significant improvement in the main outcomes of the study resulting from practice of the Transcendental Meditation program compared with controls (Wilks Λ [3,28] = 0.695; p = 0.019). Results of univariate F tests indicated a significant reduction of all main outcome measures: perceived stress (F[1,32] = 13.42; p = < 0.001); depression (F[1,32] = 6.92; p = 0.013); and overall teacher burnout (F[1,32] = 6.18; p = 0.018). Effect sizes ranged from 0.40 to 0.94.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Transcendental Meditation program was effective in reducing psychological distress in teachers and support staff working in a therapeutic school for students with behavioral problems. These findings have important implications for employees’ job performance as well as their mental and physical health.
authors.affiliation: Physician Lead for Integrative Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Northwest and an Affiliate Investigator at the Center for Health Research in Portland, OR. charles.elder@kpchr.org.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elder
authors.affiliation: Professor of Physiology and Health, and Education at Maharishi University of Management and Senior Investigator at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention in Fairfield, IA. snidich@mum.edu.
authors.forename: Sanford
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nidich
authors.affiliation: Clinical Director at Mountain Valley Treatment Center in Pike, NH, and the Founder of Metta, LTD in Arlington, VT. fmoriarty@mountainvalleytreatment.org.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moriarty
authors.affiliation: Adjunct Associate Professor of Education at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA. rnidich@mum.edu.
authors.forename: Randi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nidich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000628:therapy*; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*