Impact of Mindfulness Training on Stress-related Health Outcomes in Law Enforcement

The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training on Stress-Related Biological, Behavioral, and Health-Related Outcomes in Law Enforcement Officers

In a sample of 120 officers from Dane County law enforcement agencies, the investigators are conducting a randomized controlled trial of an 8-week mindfulness-based training program for police officers, Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT), and investigating the impact of this training on subjective responses to stress, stress-related psychological and physical health outcomes, and biological and behavioral correlates of perceived stress. While the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions have been documented in a variety of populations, this will be the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind of law enforcement personnel. In addition to self-report measures, this study assesses an array of objective biological and behavioral outcomes both in the laboratory and in the field that may speak to mechanisms of change involved in symptom reduction.

120 police officers will be recruited from Dane County law enforcement agencies to take part in an 8-week, group-based, mindfulness-based training program called Madison Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (mMBRT). Officers will be randomized to an active group, which will receive mMBRT immediately after baseline assessments, and a waitlist control group, which will receive mMBRT after a post-intervention assessment and a subsequent follow-up assessment. mMBRT is similar to and inspired by MBRT, and both of these programs are law enforcement-specific interventions based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a commonly used mindfulness program in many healthcare settings. mMBRT is structurally similar to MBSR, with 8 weekly 2-hour classes involving guided meditation practices, gentle movement, and group-based discussion (one of these classes, toward the end of the course, is approximately 4 hours and integrates many of the practices and teachings covered throughout the training program). Participants will be provided with weekly homework assignments and audio recordings that provide guided instruction in various meditation and yoga practices.

At three separate timepoints, officers will take part in a laboratory assessment that involves the following procedures:

• administration of computerized behavioral tasks
• completion of self-report questionnaires that assess trauma history and occupational stressors, perceived stress, sleep, physical and mental health
• collection of a small amount of blood via finger prick and/or venipuncture (to assess peripheral inflammatory markers)
• collection of a small amount of hair from the scalp (to assess hair cortisol concentration)
• measurement of height and weight for the assessment of body mass index, and for use with activity trackers data

In conjunction with these laboratory assessments, data will be collected from officers in the field over the course of approximately 1 week (coinciding with a regularly scheduled work week), including the following procedures:

• officers will wear an activity monitor (e.g., Fitbit) to allow for objective monitoring of sleep quality and resting heart rate throughout the study
• officers will collect saliva samples 4 times per day over 3 days for the assessment of salivary cortisol
• officers will complete daily logs of work hours, types of events encountered during work, perceived stress related to these events, and self-reported mood and affect ratings

These field data will be related to dispatch records, which will provide objective information regarding the types of incidents responded to, and the time and location of these incidents.

The laboratory and field assessments will be collected at baseline (prior to randomization); after the active mMBRT group completes the intervention; and at a follow-up visit (approximately 4 months after the end of the intervention), after which the wait-list group will be offered the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 years of age
• Capable of giving informed consent
• Fluent in English
• Currently employed sworn law enforcement officer working in the Dane County Sheriff's Office, Madison Police Department, or University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Extensive prior experience in meditation practice, or previous completion of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training, or a substantively similar meditation training program
• A work schedule that precludes one from committing to regular participation in the 8-week training program
• Command staff working in a supervisory role