Human resources for healthNov 20, 2024

Mindfulness stress reduction programs may help reduce burnout in healthcare workers during COVID-19 in China

Psychedelic Science Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 6, 2026

Abstract

The program improved personal accomplishment and reduced emotional exhaustion in 56 healthcare providers during the pandemic.

Participants in the MBSR program experienced a significant increase in personal accomplishment compared to those in the control group.
Emotional exhaustion decreased significantly for those in the MBSR group, indicating a potential benefit for relief.
No significant difference was found regarding depersonalization between the MBSR and control groups.
Cognitive reappraisal and positive emotions were identified as possible mediators of the program's effects on personal accomplishment.
The findings suggest that mindfulness training may offer preliminary benefits in addressing burnout among healthcare providers.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic brings critical health problems to workers in many occupations, particularly healthcare providers. The aim of the study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of the (MBSR) program on relieving of healthcare providers during the pandemic. The roles of positive and negative emotion as well as emotion regulation strategy in the intervention effects were also investigated.

METHODS: A sample of 112 healthcare providers in China were recruited and randomly assigned to the MBSR (n = 56) or the control condition (n = 56). Measures were collected at pre-intervention, mid-intervention, and post-intervention, assessing mindfulness level, emotion regulation strategy, positive and negative emotion, and burnout.

RESULTS: The MBSR program showed acceptable feasibility. Compared to the control group, healthcare providers in the MBSR group showed significant increase in personal accomplishment and decrease in emotional exhaustion after the intervention. No significant difference was detected on the dimension of depersonalization. Results of mediation analyses implied that cognitive reappraisal and positive affect partially mediated the intervention effects on personal accomplishment.

CONCLUSIONS: The study provided preliminary evidence that the MBSR programs might be effective in reducing healthcare providers' burnout, even during the pandemic. Cognitive reappraisal and positive emotion might be important mechanisms of how the training took effect.

Key numbers

9.54

Increase in Personal Accomplishment

Difference in personal accomplishment scores post-intervention between and control groups

5.398

Decrease in Emotional Exhaustion

F-value indicating the interaction effect on emotional exhaustion at post-intervention

5.20

Program Attendance

Average attendance during the 8-week program

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Funding

Competing interests

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was reviewed and approved by the Academic Review Board of Zhejiang University Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (register number: 1806). All participants provided written informed consent to participate. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

PubMed

Mindfulness stress reduction programs may help reduce burnout in healthcare workers during COVID-19 in China

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

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Abstract

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