Impact of Mindfulness Training on Stress-related Health Outcomes in Law Enforcement

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

115 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-03-06

Study Completion Date

2019-12-10

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

In a sample of 120 officers from Dane County law enforcement agencies, the investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial of an 8-week mindfulness-based training program for police officers, Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT), and investigating the impact of this training on subjective responses to stress, stress-related psychological and physical health outcomes, and biological and behavioral correlates of perceived stress. While the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions have been documented in a variety of populations, this will be the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind of law enforcement personnel. In addition to self-report measures, this study assesses an array of objective biological and behavioral outcomes both in the laboratory and in the field that may speak to mechanisms of change involved in symptom reduction.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training for Aggression, Health, and Stress Among Law Enforcement Officers

NCT03784846

Stress, Psychological Aggression

COMPLETED NA

Stress-physiology Coherence, Interoception, and Well-being Following Mindfulness Training or Tracking Time Spent on Mobile Device

NCT04125758

Not Seeking to Treat Any Conditions

COMPLETED NA

Brief Trainings to Buffer Against Acute Stress Effects

NCT02214264

Stress

COMPLETED NA

The Effects of Mindfulness Training on Pain Regulation, Negative Affect, Attention, and Social Stress

NCT01301105

Focus on Pain Regulation Mechanisms Social Stress Mechanisms Basic Affective Mechanisms +4 more

COMPLETED NA

The Effects of Mindfulness Training on School Staff

NCT00214357

Teachers

COMPLETED NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

120 police officers will be recruited from Dane County law enforcement agencies to take part in an 8-week, group-based, mindfulness-based training program called Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT). Officers will be randomized to an active group, which will receive mMBRT immediately after baseline assessments, and a waitlist control group, which will receive mMBRT after a post-intervention assessment and a subsequent follow-up assessment. mMBRT is similar to and inspired by MBRT, and both of these programs are law enforcement-specific interventions based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a commonly used mindfulness program in many healthcare settings. mMBRT is structurally similar to MBSR, with 8 weekly 2-hour classes involving guided meditation practices, gentle movement, and group-based discussion (one of these classes, toward the end of the course, is approximately 4 hours and integrates many of the practices and teachings covered throughout the training program). Participants will be provided with weekly homework assignments and audio recordings that provide guided instruction in various meditation and yoga practices.

At three separate timepoints, officers will take part in a laboratory assessment that involves the following procedures:

* administration of computerized behavioral tasks
* completion of self-report questionnaires that assess trauma history and occupational stressors, perceived stress, sleep, physical and mental health
* collection of a small amount of blood via finger prick and/or venipuncture (to assess peripheral inflammatory markers)
* collection of a small amount of hair from the scalp (to assess hair cortisol concentration)
* measurement of height and weight for the assessment of body mass index, and for use with activity trackers data

In conjunction with these laboratory assessments, data will be collected from officers in the field over the course of approximately 1 week (coinciding with a regularly scheduled work week), including the following procedures:

* officers will wear an activity monitor (e.g., Fitbit) to allow for objective monitoring of sleep quality and resting heart rate throughout the study
* officers will collect saliva samples 4 times per day over 3 days for the assessment of salivary cortisol
* officers will complete daily logs of work hours, types of events encountered during work, perceived stress related to these events, and self-reported mood and affect ratings

These field data will be related to dispatch records, which will provide objective information regarding the types of incidents responded to, and the time and location of these incidents.

The laboratory and field assessments will be collected at baseline (prior to randomization); after the active mMBRT group completes the intervention; and at a follow-up visit (approximately 4 months after the end of the intervention), after which the wait-list group will be offered the intervention.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Stress, Psychological Sleep Inflammation Mental Health

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Participants are randomized to an active treatment group and a waitlist control group.

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Participants cannot be made blind to study assignment due to the nature of the intervention.

Baseline (T1) measures will be collected prior to treatment assignment. Every effort will be taken to minimize knowledge of group assignment by the study team, in particular the PI and other individuals involved in data analysis; however, the small size of the study team and overlapping roles of team members may preclude masking of group assignment for all members of the study team.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

mMBRT

Individuals in the mMBRT group will receive an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention in groups of approximately 15 individuals in 8 weekly 2-hour classes (one of these classes, toward the end of the course, is approximately 4 hours and integrates many of the practices and teachings covered throughout the training program).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

mMBRT

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT) is an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention developed specifically for police officers, which is similar to and inspired by a program developed by researchers at Pacific (OR) University (Christopher, Goerling et al., 2016). mMBRT includes 8 weekly 2-hour classes involving guided meditation practice, gentle movement, and group-based discussion (the 7th class is a longer, 4-hour class). The total class time is about 18 hours over 8 weeks, and participants are asked to engage in home practice for up to 30 minutes/day, 6 days/week throughout the intervention.

Waitlist control group

Individuals in the waitlist control group will complete the same assessments as those in the active treatment group, but will not be offered any intervention until the conclusion of the trial. At this time, control group participants will be offered the intervention.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

mMBRT

Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT) is an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention developed specifically for police officers, which is similar to and inspired by a program developed by researchers at Pacific (OR) University (Christopher, Goerling et al., 2016). mMBRT includes 8 weekly 2-hour classes involving guided meditation practice, gentle movement, and group-based discussion (the 7th class is a longer, 4-hour class). The total class time is about 18 hours over 8 weeks, and participants are asked to engage in home practice for up to 30 minutes/day, 6 days/week throughout the intervention.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training MBRT

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* At least 18 years of age
* Capable of giving informed consent
* Fluent in English
* Currently employed sworn law enforcement officer working in the Dane County Sheriff's Office, Madison Police Department, or University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

Exclusion Criteria

* Extensive prior experience in meditation practice, or previous completion of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training, or a substantively similar meditation training program
* A work schedule that precludes one from committing to regular participation in the 8-week training program
* Command staff working in a supervisory role

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes