Intervene to reduce depression in the workplace

Legend for the strength of the effects:

none | weak | average | strong

          

 

Nota Bene: The striped dots show a decrease in the effects of the intervention over time or depending on the research design used.

Catalog of interventions to reduce psychological distress in the workplace

Intervention typeStudy populationScientific proofReferences
MACROPractices related to risks regulation and communication strategies
Participatory intervention to identify and reduce stressorsNurses in hospital settings
de Wijn et Van der Doef, (2022)
MESOPractices related to work organization conditions
Direct employee participation (job redesign) Blue-collar workers from electricity supply services and from manufacturing, nurses Lau et al. (2017)
MICROPractices target the individual.
Cognitive behavioral therapy including acceptance and commitment therapyWorkers from various public and private organizations, school district personnel (mostly teachers)Bellon et al. (2019)
Cognitive behavioral therapyManufacturing company and public sector employees, employees working in an office environment, employees with subclinical depressionNigatu et al. (2019)
Resilience trainingMilitary personel (deployed soldiers and veterans)van der Meulen et al. (2020)
Resilience training

Public safety and frontline healthcare professionals
Di Nota, Bahji, Groll, Carleton et Anderson (2021)
Cognitive behavioral therapyEmployees from private and public sectors, employees from large media organization, managers, supervisors and workers in a manufacturing plantTan et al. (2014)
Cognitive behavioral therapyGeneral working adults, full-time employees, white-collar office workers in manufacturing, secondary school teachers Lau et al. (2017)
Mindfulness meditationHealth professionals, teachers, mixed employees, call-center employees, university and factory employees, insurance company employees, human service employees, social workers, civil servants, laboratory technicians, professional athletes, intellectual disability support staff, office administratorsLomas et al. (2019a)
Mindfulness meditationHealth professionalsLomas et al. (2019b)
Mindfulness meditationHealth professionalsSpinelli et al. (2019)
Mindfulness meditationUniversity and insurance company employees, teachers, nurses and nurses leaders, hospital-based health care, intellectual disability care staff Bartlett et al. (2019)
Mindfulness meditation
Nurses
Ramachandran et al. (2022)
Mindfulness meditation

Nurses
Kang et Myung, 2022)
Mindfulness meditationNurses (including nurse practitioners and advanced practice nurses)Karo et al. (2023)
Mindfulness meditation
Junior doctors
Sekhar et al. (2021)
Mindfulness meditationGeneral population of employeesMichaelsen et al. (2023)
Cognitive behavioral therapy with complementary and alternative medicine practicesGeneral working adults, real estate employees, nursing trainees, elementary school teachers Lau et al. (2017)
E-mental health (cognitive behavioral therapy)Teachers, employees from the working population with low to moderate depression, employees from various companies with depresive symptoms, public sector employees, medium-sized company employees, employees from two companies developing information systems, employees with moderate or high risk of depression (who visited a doctor in the last month)Phillips et al. 2019
E-mental health (cognitive behavioral therapy)Employees from a technology company, nurses and other health professionals, transport, health and communications sectors employees (untargeted), public sector employees, employees from banking companies, employes from a technology company (targeted with depressive symptoms, exhaustion or sleeping problems)Stratton et al. (2017)
E-mental health (cognitive behavioral therapy)
Employees
Xiong et al. (2022)
E-mental health (cognitive behavioral therapy)General population of employeesStratton et al. (2022)
E-mental health (problem solving)Teachers, employees from the working population with low to moderate depression, employees from various companies with depresive symptoms, public sector employees, medium-sized company employees, employees from two companies developing information systems, employees with moderate or high risk of depression (who visited a doctor in the last month)Phillips et al. 2019
E-mental health (positive psychology)Teachers, employees from the working population with low to moderate depression, employees from various companies with depresive symptoms, public sector employees, medium-sized company employees, employees from two companies developing information systems, employees with moderate or high risk of depression (who visited a doctor in the last month)Phillips et al. 2019
E-mental health (mindfulness)University employees, industrial organization employees, public sector employees, shift nursesStratton et al. (2017)
E-mental health (mindfulness)General population of employeesStratton et al. (2022)
E-mental health (stress management)Teachers and various employees with depressive symptomsStratton et al. (2017)
E-mental health (stress management)General population of employeesStratton et al. (2022)
Mobile app (Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness)Healthcare workersKwon et Lee (2022)
Web and mobile apps (mindfulness)Frontline health care workersYang et al (2023)
Self-compassion trainingHealthcare workersKwon et Lee (2022)
Yoga and musicHealthcare workersKwon et Lee (2022)

We conducted a systematic review of meta-analysis of workplace interventions aimed at reducing depression. Our search focused on studies published since January 2000 in several bibliographic databases including Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Embase, Medline, PsyInfo, Pubmed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Business Source Premier and CINAHL plus (EBSCO). We used terms and keywords related to depression (eg. depression, depressive symptoms or mental health) and workplace interventions (eg. health promotion, intervention, prevention, work and employment). Searches were limited to peer-reviewed, English and French meta-analysis.  To be eligible, studies included in meta-analysis had to assess depression using a validated measure such as the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and use randomized controlled trials. After extracting duplicates, we identified a total of 3,319 references of which 199 were classified as potential. In the final analysis, 22 studies were deemed eligible, including the last update of March 2024. 

List of studies included:

  1. Bartlett, L., Martin, A., Neil, A. L., Memish, K., Otahal, P., Kilpatrick, M., & Sanderson, K. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of workplace mindfulness training randomized controlled trials. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 108-126.
  2. Bellon, J. A., Conejo-Ceron, S., Cortes-Abela, C., Pena-Andreu, J. M., Garcia-Rodriguez, A., & Moreno-Peral, P. (2019). Effectiveness of psychological and educational interventions for the prevention of depression in the workplace: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 45(4), 324-332.
  3. de Wijn, A.N., et van der Doef, M.P. (2022). A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of stress management interventions for nurses: Capturing 14 years of research. International Journal of Stress Management, 29(2), 113-129.
  4. Di Nota, P.M., Bahji, A., Groll, D., Carleton, R.N., et Anderson, G.S. (2021). Proactive psychological programs designed to mitigate posttraumatic stress injuries among at-risk workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews, 10(1), 126.
  5. Kang, M.-J., et Myung, S.-K. (2022). Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on mental health in nurses: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Issues in mental health nursing, 43(1), 51-59.
  6. Karo, M., Simorangkir, L., Daryanti Saragih, I., Suarilah, I., et Tzeng, H. M. (2023). Effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on reducing psychological distress among nurses: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Nursing Scholarship.
  7. Kwon, C. Y., et Lee, B. (2022). Systematic review of mind–body modalities to manage the mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 Era. In Healthcare (Vol. 10, No. 6, p. 1027). MDPI.
  8. Lau, R.W.M., Mak WH. (2017) Effectiveness of Workplace Interventions for Depression in Asia: A Meta-Analysis. SAGE Open. April-June 2017, 1-17.
  9. Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2019). Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review and meta-analysis of their impact upon wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(5), 625-640.
  10. Michaelsen, M. M., Graser, J., Onescheit, M., Tuma, M. P., Werdecker, L., Pieper, D., et Esch, T. (2023). Mindfulness-Based and Mindfulness-Informed Interventions at the Workplace: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis of RCTs. Mindfulness, 1-34.
  11. Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on the well-being of healthcare professionals. Mindfulness, 10(7), 1193-1216.
  12. Nigatu, Y. T., Huang, J., Rao, S., Gillis, K., Merali, Z., & Wang, J. (2019). Indicated prevention interventions in the workplace for depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Prev Med, 56(1): e23-e33.
  13. Phillips, E. A., Gordeev, V. S., & Schreyogg, J. (2019). Effectiveness of occupational e-mental health interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 45(6), 560-576.
  14. Ramachandran, H.J., Bin Mahmud, M.S., Rajendran, P., Jiang, Y., Cheng, L., et Wang, W. (2022). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on psychological well-being, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of clinical nursing.
  15. Sekhar, P., Tee, Q.X., Ashraf, G., Trinh, D., Shachar, J., Jiang, A., . . . Turner, T. (2021). Mindfulness-based psychological interventions for improving mental well-being in medical students and junior doctors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2021(12), CD013740.
  16. Spinelli, C., Wisener, M., & Khoury, B. (2019). Mindfulness training for healthcare professionals and trainees: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 120, 29-38.
  17. Stratton, E., Lampit, A., Choi, I., Calvo, R. A., Harvey, S. B., & Glozier, N. (2017). Effectiveness of eHealth interventions for reducing mental health conditions in employees: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE [Electronic Resource], 12(12).
  18. Stratton, E., Lampit, A., Choi, I., Malmberg Gavelin, H., Aji, M., Taylor, J., Calvo, R.A., Harvey, S.B., Glozier, N. (2022). Trends in effectiveness of organizational eHealth interventions in addressing employee mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(9), e37776.
  19. Tan, L., Wang, M. J., Modini, M., Joyce, S., Mykletun, A., Christensen, H., & Harvey, S. B. (2014). Preventing the development of depression at work: a systematic review and meta-analysis of universal interventions in the workplace. BMC Medicine, 12, 74.
  20. van der Meulen, E., van der Velden, P. G., van Aert, R. C. M., & van Veldhoven, M. J. P. M. (2020). Longitudinal associations of psychological resilience with mental health and functioning among military personnel: A meta-analysis of prospective studies. Social Science and Medicine, 255, 112814.
  21. Xiong, J., Wen, J.L., Pei, G.S., Han, X., et He, D.Q. (2022). Effectiveness of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for employees with depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, ahead-of-print, 1-14.
  22. Yang, J. M., Ye, H., Long, Y., Zhu, Q., Huang, H., Zhong, Y. B., Luo, Y., Yang, L. et Wang, M. Y. (2023). Effects of Web-Based Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Among Frontline Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e44000.

This content has been updated on 22 March 2024 at 21h22.