Irene Lahde s2293048

Scientific Review Paper Proposal: Are Online Mindfulness Apps Effective in Reducing
Work Stress?

Work-related stress is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes (Ebert et al, 2016). Despite

there being evidence-based stress-management strategies, most stressed workers do not get

treatment because of high threshold for treatment, lack of availability, and high costs (Ebert

et al, 2016). Smartphone applications for stress-management have the potential to reduce the

economic burden of work stress in a cost-effective and accessible way, given that most adults

now own a smartphone and many apps are free (Coulon et al, 2016).

Mindfulness is an effective way to combat stress (Khoury, Sharma, Rush, & Fournier,

2015). Moreover, it can be delivered successfully via smartphone: Wen, Sweeney, Welton,

Trockel, & Katznelson (2017) found that using the Headspace app for 30 days improved

positive affect in medical staff. However, are online mindfulness apps successful in the long-

term? Problems with self-help include poor adherence and lack of motivation to keep going:

as such, mindfulness apps may involve lower durations of practice than the traditional eight-

week mindfulness group, and therefore be less effective (Economides, Martman, Bell, &

Sanderson, 2018). Indeed, Forbes, Gutierrez and Johnson (2018) reported high attrition rates

in studies investigating online mindfulness. They also stated that many studies do not report

drop-out rates, which may bias interpretations.

I intend to investigate the effectiveness of smartphone mindfulness apps in reducing

work-related stress, taking into account attrition and drop-out rates.

Literature Search Strategy

For statistics on work stress, I searched for “work stress cost” in the Leiden University search

engine, and obtained the article by Ebert et al (2016).

For online mindfulness, I initially conducted a Google Scholar search for “online mindfulness

meta-analysis” resulted in finding a meta-analysis by Spijkerman, Pots and Bohlmeijer

1
 Irene Lahde s2293048

(2016). I adapted their search strategy terms for PsycInfo and Web of Science (see

Appendix). However, I deleted any terms relating to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and

acceptance and commitment therapy, as I wanted to focus solely on mindfulness, but was also

interested in finding studies that were not RCTs. I restricted results to publications in English

from the last five years (2014-2019). Given the high number of results, I intend to do a

further search including key terms related to workplace stress and adherence, in order to

obtain the most relevant articles.

References
Coulon, S. M., Monroe, C. M., & West, D. S. (2016). A systematic, multi-domain review of

mobile smartphone apps for evidence-based stress management. American Journal of

Preventive Medicine, 51(1), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.01.026

Ebert, D. D., Lehr, D., Heber, E., Riper, H., Cuijpers, P., & Berking, M. (2016). Internet- and

mobile-based stress management for employees with adherence-focused guidance: Efficacy

and mechanism of change. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 42(5),

382–394. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3573

Economides, M., Martman, J., Bell, M. J., & Sanderson, B. (2018). Improvements in stress, affect,

and irritability following brief use of a mindfulness-based smartphone app: A randomized

controlled trial. Mindfulness, 9(5), 1584–1593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0905-4

Forbes, L., Gutierrez, D., & Johnson, S. K. (2018). Investigating adherence to an online

introductory mindfulness program. Mindfulness, 9(1), 271–282.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0772-4

2
 Irene Lahde s2293048

Khoury, B., Sharma, M., Rush, S. E., & Fournier, C. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction

for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 78(6), 519–

528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.009

Spijkerman, M. P. J., Pots, W. T. M., & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2016). Effectiveness of online

mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health: A review and meta-analysis of

randomised controlled trials. Clinical Psychology Review, 45, 102–114.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.03.009

Wen, L., Sweeney, T. E., Welton, L., Trockel, M., & Katznelson, L. (2017). Encouraging

mindfulness in medical house staff via smartphone app: A pilot study. Academic Psychiatry,

41(5), 646–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-017-0768-3

Appendix: Search Strategies

PsycINFO (EBSCO):
#1 TI (mindful* OR meditation) OR AB (mindful* OR meditation) OR KW (mindful* OR
meditation)
#2 DE “Mindfulness” OR DE “Meditation”
#3 TI (intervention* OR therap* OR treatment* OR program*) OR KW (intervention* OR
therap* OR treatment* OR program*)
#4 TI (online OR e-health OR Internet* OR web* OR computer* OR app OR apps OR
smartphone OR mobile)
#4 TI(stress OR work stress)

Web of Science: 97 results

#1 TS=(mindful* OR meditation)
#2 TS=(intervention* OR therap* OR treatment* OR program*)
#3 TS=(online OR e-health OR Internet* OR web* OR computer* OR app OR apps OR
smartphone OR mobile)
#4 TS=(work place stress OR work stress OR burnout OR burn-out OR burn out)
#5 #1 AND #2 AND #3 AND #4

Word count: 371 (excluding reference list, Appendix and title)