1. Evaluation of an Acceptance & Mindfulness Training for Elementary Staff, Educators, & Administrators Michelle Woidneck, Michael Twohig, Donna Gilbertson, & Jesse Crosby Utah State University

2. Problem  Administrative changes at a public elementary school led to resistance from some teachers & conflict among school staff  Divide among two camps  Increasing defiance from some teachers  Increasing stress & negativity among school environment  Two options presented by principal:  Mandatory ropes course retreat  1-day ACT training …teachers voted on training

3. Purpose  To see if a 1-day ACT training for school teachers & administrators experiencing workplace discord could:  Increase school functioning  Increase psychological flexibility  Increase teacher efficacy  Reduce teacher stress & burnout

4. Intervention  8-hour training  Included:  Purpose of training  Clarifying values; what’s getting in the way  Variation of creative hopelessness  Control as the problem  Acceptance/Defusion  How we fight  Discussion  VALUES  Committed action within context of school

5. Methods  25 participants  Measures:  Modified AAQ-II adjusted for school environment  Index of Teaching Stress  Maslach Burnout Inventory—Educators Survey  Indicators of School Quality Staff Survey  Organizational Behavior & Climate Measure  Pre immediately before Intervention  2.5-week post

6. Results

9. Possible factors of failure  Mandatory training  Successful ACT interventions may require a certain level of “buy in” from participants  Engagement in training was variable  Teacher fired day before post  Rapport/ability to relate to therapist  Measuring incorrect construct  Not enough time to see change  Sample size too small

10. Future Directions  Larger randomized controlled studies needed to determine ACT’s utility within school settings  More assessment points following intervention  More research needed to determine best way to administer treatment within school setting  Relationship between initial willingness to engage in treatment and treatment outcomes  Therapist within system versus outside of system