Mindfulness in Motion Targeted to Sustaining the Mental and Physical Resilience of First Responders

April 6, 2026 updated by: Maryanna Klatt, Ohio State University
High levels of chronic and recurrent workplace stress can profoundly impact the physical, mental, and emotional health of first responders. A multi-modal evidence-based mindfulness intervention was delivered to cohorts of first responders to evaluate effects on perceived stress, resilience, work engagement, and musculoskeletal pain.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The occupational stress experienced by first responders can result in decreased quality and safety of patient care, increased risk of first responder injury, and decreased organizational performance. Worksite mindfulness interventions have been shown to support decreases in occupational stress, as well as improved resilience and work engagement for other high stress professions. Mindfulness in Motion (MIM), an evidence-based mindfulness intervention, was adapted to target the specific occupational needs of first responders in a format that could be easily integrated into their workdays. Three cohorts of first responders received eight weekly synchronous mindfulness sessions with full access to the companion smartphone MIM app for six months after the core eight-week sessions were completed. Adaptations to the MIM content and experiential practices were informed by first responder feedback prior to the study. Self-report surveys to assess perceived stress, resilience, work engagement, and musculoskeletal pain were completed by first responder participants before participation in the intervention, at the end of the eight week intervention, and again six months after the intervention was completed.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

29

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • The Ohio State University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Actively working as a community First Responder
  • 18 years or older
  • Ability to understand and read English
  • Commitment to participation in the eight weekly virtual sessions, download the MIM smartphone app
  • Adequate Wi-Fi to access the MIM app content

Exclusion Criteria:

  • First responder working in a hospital or healthcare setting

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group
First responders participate in an eight-week, synchronous virtual mindfulness intervention, during work hours, with access to companion smartphone app to reinforce virtually presented content and support individual mindfulness practices.
Behavioral: Mindfulness in Motion for First Responders
Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) is an eight-week, evidence-based workplace intervention designed to provide participants with practical strategies to reduce stress and burnout, and improve resilience. Offered virtually, MIM was adapted to support first responders relative to their occupational stressors and unique work characteristics. A companion smartphone app supplemented the eight weekly synchronous sessions and offered content informed by first responders and experiential practices that were modeled by first responders.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
The Perceived Stress Scale-10 is a self-report measure of perceived stress that measures the degree to which situations in one's life over the past month are appraised as stressful. The 4-point Likert scale responses are 0=Never, 1=Almost Never, 2=Sometimes, 3=Fairly Often, and 4=Very Often. Individual scores are summed and range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress.
Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10)
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
The Connor Davidson-Resilience Scale-10 is a 10-item self-report assessment of a person's ability to bounce back after adversity. A 5-point Likert scale for each statement ranges from 0=Not true at all to 4=True nearly all of the time. A respondents's total sum score can range from 0-40 with higher scores indicating higher resilience.
Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-0 (UWES-9)
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
A 9-item assessment of attitudes towards one's job. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 measures three dimensions: dedication, vigor, and absorption. All items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 0=Never, 1=Almost Never, 2=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 4=Often, 5=Very Often, and 6=Always. Each sub scale time is summed and ranges from 0-18. Higher scores for each sub scale indicate higher dedication, vigor, and absorption with work.
Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (mNMQ)
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
The Modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire is a standardized 14-item tool assessing musculoskeletal symptoms, over the past 12 months and past 7 days, across multiple body regions. Q. 1 asks about musculoskeletal pain in 9 anatomical areas include the neck, shoulders, upper back, elbows, lower back, wrists/hands, hips/thighs, knees, and ankles/feet--yes/no are responses. Q. 2 asks frequency of musculoskeletal issues in the 9 anatomical areas over the past 30 days with Q. 3 asking about length of time related to the musculoskeletal pain and Q. 4 about intensity of the pain that was indicated. With yes/no responses, Q. 5 & 6 asks if pain has interfered with usual activities; question 7 asks if a healthcare provider was seen. Q. 9, 10, 11 asks if work activities have been disrupted and if a formal diagnosis was determined. Q. 12, 13, and 14 asks about related symptoms. The tool uses a structured, forced-choice format supported by a body map. There is no minimum or maximum score.
Baseline, immediately after the 8 week intervention, and 6 months after the completion of the 8-week intervention
Mindfulness in Motion smartphone app usage
Time Frame: Immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention
App usage data in time per participant
Immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention
Mindfulness in Motion videos watched
Time Frame: immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention
Frequency of videos watched by the overall participant sample on the smartphone app
immediately after completion of the 8-week intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ohio State University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Maryanna Klatt, PhD, Ohio State University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2022B0254

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The de-identified data and analysis code will be submitted to the Dryad repository. Human subjects demographics will be limited to three de-identified descriptors. MIM app usage will be submitted as de-identified usage frequencies. Paired t-test and ANOVA analysis for perceived stress, resilience, and work engagement will be submitted as de-identified, cohort data-comparison on means. nNMQ data will be submitted as frequency and comparison of means.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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