The impact of a mindfulness-based stress reduction training program on depression, anxiety, and stress in Moroccan nurses

Abstract

Background: This study examines the impact of a mindfulness-based stress reduction-training program on depression, anxiety, and stress among nurses in Morocco. Methods: Participants were selected from a hospital in the province of Tetouan, Morocco. They included 80 hospital nurses, 59 women and 21 men. They were randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group, with 40 participants in each group. An eight-week mindfulness training was used as a psychological intervention in the intervention group. To assess the outcomes of both groups before and after the intervention, a depression, anxiety, and stress scale and a five-facet mindfulness questionnaire were used. Results: In the intervention group, mean post-test scores showed significant differences from pre-test in the depression variable (η2 = 0.249; p < 0.001), Anxiety = (η2 = 0.282; p < 0.001), and Stress = (η2 = 0.396; p < 0.001), as well as in the FFMQ (η2 = 0.379; p < 0.001. Similarly, a 4-month follow-up revealed that all variables showed statistically significant differences, with an equally large effect size (η2 = 1.387; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The MBSR training program is an effective, evidence-based psychotherapeutic intervention for treating depression, anxiety, and stress in hospital nurses. Further in-depth studies based on neuroscientific data using electroencephalogram (EEG) evoked brain potentials are recommended.