Intervene to reduce psychological distress in the workplace
Legend for the strength of the effects:
none | weak | average | strong
Catalog of interventions to reduce psychological distress in the workplace
| Intervention types | Study population | Scientific proof | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| MESO | Practices related to work organization conditions. | ||
| Training for managers to support employees | Various occupations in services, sales, computer engineering, public health workers, public services officials, brewery manufacture workers. |  | Gayed et al. (2018) |
| Social support between employees | Health professionals, nurses and hospital workers | | Richardson et Rothstein (2018) |
| Intervention aiming to improve teamwork, staffing, work organization, communication and ergonomics | Nurses | | De Wijn et Van der Doef (2022) |
| MICRO | Practices target the individual. | ||
| Mindfulness meditation | Public servants, school teachers, call center employees, administrative staff, manufacturing workers, nurses and hospital-based and mental health workers |  | Bartlett et al. (2019) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health professionals |  | Spinelli, Wisener et Khoury (2019) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health and social services workers, school teachers, call center employees, manufacturing workers, insurance company employees, civil servants, laboratory technicians, managers and administrative staff | | Lomas et al. (2019a) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Health professionals | | Lomas et al. (2019b) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Nurses |  | Ramachandran et al. (2022) |
| Mindfulness meditation | Public safety and frontline healthcare professionals | | Di Nota, Bahji, Groll, Carleton et Anderson (2021) |
| Cognitive behavioural therapy | Employees in the public sector, social services, and entertainment industry | | Cores et al. (2021) |
| Cognitive behavioral therapy including acceptance and commitment therapy | Office workers | | Richardson et Rothstein (2018) |
| Acceptance and commitment therapy | Workers in mental health and intellectual disability settings | | Reeve, Tickle et al. 2018 |
| Acceptance and commitment therapy (group based) | Health care professionals |  | Prudenzi et al. (2021) |
| Relaxation | Health professionals | | Richardson et Rothstein (2018) |
| Relaxation | Health professionals and manufacturing workers | | Cores et al. (2021) |
| Personal development | Social services workers, military, day care service workers | | Richardson et Rothstein (2018) |
| Resilience promotion | Public safety and frontline healthcare professionals | | Di Nota, Bahji, Groll, Carleton et Anderson (2021) |
| Stress management training | Public safety and frontline healthcare professionals | | Di Nota, Bahji, Groll, Carleton et Anderson (2021) |
We conducted a systematic review of meta-analyses of workplace interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress. 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 psychological distress (e.g., psychological distress, mental health) and workplace interventions (e.g., health promotion, intervention, prevention, work, and employment). Searches were limited to peer-reviewed, English, and French meta-analyses. To be eligible, studies included in meta-analyses had to assess psychological distress using a validated measure such as the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and use randomized controlled trials. After extracting duplicates, we identified a total of 2,998 references of which 144 were classified as potential. In the final analysis, 12 studies were deemed eligible, including the last update in Fall 2022.
List of studies included:
- 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.
- Cores, S.E., Sayed, A. A., Tracy, D. K., & Kempton, M. J. (2021). Individual-focused occupational health interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 26(3), 189-203
- 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.
- 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.
- Gayed, A., Milligan-Saville, J. S., Nicholas, J., Bryan, B. T., LaMontagne, A. D., Milner, A., . . . Harvey, S. B. (2018). Effectiveness of training workplace managers to understand and support the mental health needs of employees: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 75(6), 462-470.
- 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.
- Lomas, T., Carles Medina, J., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Jose Eiroa-Orosa, F. (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.
- Prudenzi, A., Graham, C.D., Clancy, F., Hill, D., O'Driscoll, R., Day, F., et O'Connor, D.B. (2021). Group-based acceptance and commitment therapy interventions for improving general distress and work-related distress in healthcare professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 295, 192-202.
- 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. February 2022.
- Reeve, A., Tickle, A., & Moghaddam, N. (2018). Are acceptance and commitment therapy-based interventions effective for reducing burnout in direct-care staff? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Mental Health Review Journal, 23(3), 131-155.
- Richardson, K. M., & Rothstein, H. R. (2008). Effects of occupational stress management intervention programs: a meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(1), 69-93.
- 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.
This content has been updated on 13 October 2023 at 2h16.