Abstract
Background
We report on effects of an intervention to foster resilience among professional women
at high risk for stress and burnout: health care providers (physicians, PhD clinicians,
physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) who are mothers.
Methods
Between February and November 2015, 40 mothers on staff at the Mayo Clinic, Arizona,
were assigned randomly to either 1) 12 weekly 1-hour sessions of a structured, relational
supportive intervention, the Authentic Connections Groups (n = 21) with protected time to attend sessions or to 2) 12 weekly hours of protected
time to be used as desired (controls; n = 19). Participants were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and 3 months
follow-up on multiple psychological measures plus plasma cortisol.
Results
Across the 12 weeks of the intervention groups, there were zero dropouts. After the
intervention, analyses of covariance showed significantly greater improvements (p < .05) for mothers in the Authentic Connections Groups than control condition for
depression and global symptoms. By 3 months follow-up, significant differences were
seen for these two dimensions and almost all other central variables, including self-compassion,
feeling loved, physical affection received, and parenting stress, with moderate effect
sizes (ηp2 0.08–0.19; median, 0.16). Participants in the Authentic Connections Groups (but not
control) condition also showed significant reductions in cortisol levels at both after
the intervention and follow-up.
Conclusions
Facilitated colleague support groups could be a viable, low-cost, preventive intervention
to mitigate burnout and distress for mothers in high-stress professional settings
such as hospitals, resulting in personal benefit, greater engagement at work, and
attenuated stress associated with parenting.
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Biography
Suniya S. Luthar, PhD, is Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and Professor Emerita at Columbia University's Teachers College. Her research spans resilience and vulnerability among various groups, including at-risk mothers and women in stressful work environments.
Biography
Alexandria Curlee, MA, is a third-year graduate student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Arizona State University. She is interested in interventions that promote resilience, specifically the salutary effects of prosocial behavior and intrinsic goals.
Biography
Susannah J. Tye, PhD, is Director of the translational neuroscience laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Her research spans neuroscience, genomic psychiatry and biomarker discovery, and translating biomarker knowledge into viable treatment approaches.
Biography
Judith C. Engelman, MD, is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist in private practice for 33 years, now with research and teaching affiliations at Mayo Clinic. Her interests include individual, group and family therapy, psychopharmacology, nutrition, yoga, spirituality, and physician well-being.
Biography
Cynthia M. Stonnington, MD, is Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Her research includes neuroimaging methods, prediction of cognitive decline, and testing interventions to foster resilience in the face of illness, or risk for illness or burnout.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 12, 2017
Accepted:
February 27,
2017
Received:
October 17,
2016
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declare that they had no conflict of interest with respect to publication of this article.
Trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration number: NCT02540473 URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02540473
This study was supported by a Seed fund from Arizona State University to Luthar. Mayo Clinic funded and supported medical-care professionals' time to participate in study activities.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc.
