Promoting recovery in daily life: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Work-related stress is increasing, negatively impacting employees and organizations.
• Recovery, or unwinding from work, is crucial for mitigating stress outcomes.
• Employees with high stress often struggle to disengage, prolonging negative effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of two 6-week online interventions (cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based) for reducing work-related perseverative thinking (PT).
• To examine the underlying mechanisms driving changes in PT within each intervention group.
• To offer accessible, low-threshold interventions for improving employee mental health.

Main Methods:

• Randomized, waitlist-controlled trial with pre-post-follow-up assessments.
• Inclusion of measurement bursts to examine mechanisms at various time scales.
• Comparison of cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based online programs against a waitlist control.

Main Results:

• Both interventions are expected to reduce work-related perseverative thinking (PT) compared to controls.
• Cognitive behavioral intervention is hypothesized to increase recovery experiences.
• Mindfulness-based intervention is hypothesized to increase facets of mindfulness.

Conclusions:

• The study will provide detailed insights into mechanisms underlying changes in work-related PT.
• Findings will inform the development of effective, scalable online interventions for occupational stress.
• Successful interventions could significantly benefit public health by supporting employee well-being across diverse occupations.