Author

Dylan Muzny

Date of Award

Summer 2022

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Terrance McAdoo

Abstract

Teachers have especially high levels of stress and this stress can have severe consequences for their health, their students and their district. This study used an action research, explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to examine the effectiveness of a self-guided audio-based Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction intervention on reducing teacher stress. Teachers self-selected into experimental (n = 14) and control groups (n = 24), and took State Trait Anxiety Index pretest and posttest surveys. The experimental group also completed participation logs and were interviewed about their experience. The MBSR intervention was found to have a statistically significant reduction in teachers for both STAI measures of stress. The interviews showed that teachers demonstrated increased attention regulation, increased body awareness, increased emotional regulation and a change in perspective of the self. Interviews also suggested that time, perceived legitimacy, and discomfort may all be factors in mindfulness completion. Participants had low participation fidelity for the MBSR intervention, and there was no correlation found between participation and stress reduction. Results and finding of this study were used to create recommendations for future practice and suggested directions for future research.

Rights

© 2022, Dylan Muzny

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