Mindfulness Is Associated With Lower Stress and Higher Work Engagement in a Large Sample of MOOC Participants

Objective: This study aimed to understand the associations between mindfulness, perceived stress, and work engagement in a very large sample of English-speaking adults, from 130 different countries. It also aimed to assess participants' self-reported changes following a 6-week mindfulness massive open online course (MOOC).Methods: Participants in the 6-week MOOC were invited to complete pre-post online surveys. Cross-sectional associations were assessed using univariate linear models, followed by structural equation models to test mediation pathways in baseline data (N = 16,697). Self-reported changes in mindfulness, stress and engagement following training were assessed using paired t-tests (n = 2,105).Results: Each standard deviation unit increase in mindfulness was associated with a 0.52 standard deviation unit decrease in perceived stress, and with 0.06 standard deviation unit increment in work engagement. 73% of the influence of mindfulness on engagement was direct. Following the mindfulness MOOC, participants reported higher mindfulness (d = 1.16), reduced perceived stress (d = 1.00) and a small improvement in work engagement (d = 0.29).Conclusions: Mindfulness was associated with lower perceived stress and higher work engagement in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. These findings support mindfulness as a potentially protective and modifiable personal resource. The MOOC format offers a low cost, highly accessible means for extending the reach and potential benefits of mindfulness training to large numbers of people.

A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Student Abstinence-Only Programs and Sexual Behavior and Attitudes

This meta-analysis of 14 studies examines the relationship between abstinence-only programs and the sexual behavior and—attitudes of urban students from middle school to early in college. The results indicate a significant relationship between abstinence-only programs and the outcomes examined. Abstinence-only programs, as a whole, were associated with reduced premarital sexual behavior by nearly .4 of a standard deviation unit. For sexual behavior and attitudes combined, abstinence-only programs were associated with improvements of nearly .3 of a standard deviation unit. When sophisticated controls were utilized in each of these analyses, the effect sizes were smaller, but were all statistically significant. The importance of these results is discussed.

A note on the heritability of leg weakness scores in pigs

During 1963, pigs tested at the five pig progeny testing stations in Britain were examined and scored by each station manager for leg weakness at the end of test. Some 19 individual items were scored, the score being 0 if satisfactory, 1 if a mild fault and 2 if a serious fault. In addition an overall legs and action score was given, scoring on a scale from 1 to 6 points; in this case the higher the score the better the leg condition. Data were available on 1,240 Landrace and 1,892 Large White pigs (2 females and 2 castrated males per litter)from 128 and 202 sires respectively. Sex differences in incidence were small,most of them being less than a tenth of a standard deviation unit, and so the analyses were performed ignoring sex. To avoid any effects of differences in incidence and in scoring among stations and to avoid the effects of any trends in the scoring pattern over the year, the analyses were performed within three-monthly periods within stations.