Brief Mindfulness Meditation via Video Streaming Improves Depression, Anxiety, and Perceived Stress Among Schoolteachers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Schoolteachers are considered as one of the most stressful professions worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the effect of brief mindfulness meditation practice via video streaming on schoolteachers' mental health. Public school teachers were recruited through paper flyers and relevant social media. Participants were randomly assigned to either the meditation or the control group. Blind procedure was not performed. Ten-minute online meditation videos were distributed to the participants in the meditation group, and they were instructed to practice meditation daily for 4 weeks. Online landscape videos (10 min long) were distributed to those in the control group, and they were instructed to watch them daily. Participants' patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), and perceived stress scale (PSS) scores were assessed before and after the intervention. A total of 375 schoolteachers were recruited, and 349 of them completed the post-intervention assessment. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed. The result showed that the scores of PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PSS in the meditation group significantly improved compared to those in the control group. More than 90% of the participants indicated their intention to continue meditation practice at the completion of the study. Limitations and implications for future research were discussed.Clinical Trial Registration: , UMIN000050425.