Effects of Mindfulness-Based Art Processing (MBAP) on the well-being and job performance of working adults: Evaluating a novel intervention

The present study assessed the effects of a novel mindfulness-based intervention, Mindfulness-Based Art Processing (MBAP), on the well-being and job performance of a working adult population. Essentially, MBAP combines positive psychology and art processing techniques with mindfulness-based practices, such as those found in a low-dose mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR-ld) program in an attempt to synergize the benefits of each modality. The effects of a no-treatment control group (n = 27), a MBSR-ld treatment control group (n = 26), and an experimental MBAP treatment group ( n = 27) were compared to discern the efficacy of the MBAP intervention. The participants completed a self-reported assessment battery that measured work motivation, work engagement, subjective well-being (SWB), psychological well-being (PWB), perceived stress, sleep quality, and mindfulness at pretreatment and post-treatment and at a 4-week post-treatment follow-up. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant improvements (p < .05) in work motivation, work engagement, SWB, PWB, perceived stress, sleep quality, and mindfulness from pretreatment to post-treatment and pretreatment to follow-up for participants in the MBAP treatment group. Additionally, a mixed MANOVA revealed significant improvements (p <. 05) in work engagement, perceived stress, and sleep quality for participants in the MBSR-ld and MBAP treatment groups when compared to participants in the no-treatment control group. Primarily, increases in mindfulness significant correlated (p < .05) with improvements in work motivation, work engagement, SWB, PWB, and sleep quality and reductions in perceived stress. Finally, the time participants practiced the MBSR and MBAP activities significantly correlated (p < .05) with improvements in work motivation, work engagement, SWB, sleep quality, and mindfulness and reductions in perceived stress. Results suggest that MBAP is a comparable intervention to other mindfulness-based interventions and can improve employee well-being and job performance. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.