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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02087891

Stress Free Now in a Corporate Call Center

Psychosocial stress increases the risk for a multitude of diseases, including obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Stress may also result in increased utilization of health care services. In the workplace, stress leads to emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction, lower productivity and impaired performance. Stress management programs and those based on mindfulness meditation have gained popularity in recent years. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of an 8-week web-based mindfulness stress reduction program and its effectiveness in reducing work related stress and improving well-being in a large corporate call center.

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Key information

Conditions

Stress, Psychological Behavior Behavioral Symptoms

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio, 44195, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Frontline employee of large corporate call center
  • Internet access

Exclusion criteria

  • Manager or supervisor of large corporate call center

Treatment and study plan

Web-based Stress Management Program (WSM)

Behavioral

The intervention, developed by the Cleveland Clinic, is an 8-week online, interactive, educational program based on mindfulness meditation. Briefly, each week subjects are introduced to the (1) weekly audio introduction to the mindfulness theme or particular meditation technique of the week, (2) weekly audio meditation techniques for relaxation, (3) daily articles providing scientific evidence and merits of meditation, and (4) bi-weekly email reminders. The introductory talks and meditation exercises were also provided on compact discs (CD) in mp3 format.

Other names: Stress Free Now

Group Support (WSMg1)

Behavioral

Subjects will meet once per week for 1 hour during the 8-week duration and practice 2-minutes of deep breathing exercises, listen to 10-minutes audio recording of the weekly lesson and practice 20-30 minutes guided meditation exercise. The remainder of the time will be used to foster sharing experiences and answering specific questions related to the weekly lesson.

Clinical Expert Support (WSMg2)

Behavioral

A clinical psychologist will replace the non-expert facilitator during 4 group support sessions.

Primary outcomes

  1. Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in improving mindfulness.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured using Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) questionnaire.

  2. Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in reducing stress mindfulness.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) questionnaire.

  3. Assess whether an 8-week mindfulness stress reduction online program is effective in decreasing burnout mindfulness.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

  4. To see whether a one-hour weekly group at work enhances amount of meditation practice.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured by self-reported average amount of weekly meditation practice.

  5. To see whether a one-hour weekly group at work improves mindfulness.

    Time frame: 8 week

    Outcome measured using Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MASS) questionnaire.

  6. To see whether a one-hour weekly group at work reduces stress.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) questionnaire.

  7. To see whether a one-hour weekly group at work decreases burnout.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Outcome measured using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire.

  8. To see whether a one-hour weekly group at work enhances engagement.

    Time frame: 8 weeks

    Engagement assessed by measuring number of weeks participants actively accessed the intervention website.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Assess if the program is effective at increasing emotional well-being.

    Time frame: 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year

    Outcome measured using emotional well-being subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

  2. Assess whether the program leads to an increase in work productivity.

    Time frame: 8 weeks, 16 weeks, and 1 year

    Productivity assessed using the call center composite measure of productivity computed monthly for each call service associate.

  3. Assess if the program is effective at increasing vitality.

    Time frame: 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 1 year

    Outcome measured using vitality subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

  4. Assess if the program is effective at increasing emotional role functioning.

    Time frame: 8 weeks, 16 weeks, 1 year

    Outcome measured using emotional role functioning subscale of the RAND Corporation's Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF36).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

The Cleveland Clinic

Other

Registry information

Acronym: SFN

Important dates

Study start
2011
Primary completion
2011
Study completion
2012
First posted
Mar 14, 2014
Registry last updated
May 11, 2022

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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