JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Probation officers and other professionals who work with youth in the legal system often experience high chronic workplace stress, which can contribute over time to elevations in anxiety, depression, and workplace burnout. Emotion dysregulation appears to function as a common mechanism underlying these elevations, and growing evidence suggests it can be improved via mindfulness meditation. Implemented successfully, app-based meditation programs could provide professionals with real-time tools for mitigating the effects of chronic workplace stress.

Objective:

This paper describes the protocol for a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Bodhi AIM+, a meditation app adapted with and for professionals who work with youth in the legal system. The adaptation process and implementation plan, as well as the pilot RCT design, were guided by theoretically-driven implementation science frameworks. The primary outcome of the pilot RCT is app adherence (i.e., ongoing app usage per objective analytics data).

Methods:

Officers and other professionals who work with youth in the legal system (N=50) will be individually randomized to use the meditation app or an active control app matched for time and structure. All participants will be asked to follow a 30-day “path” of brief audio- or video-guided content and invited to use additional app features as desired. In-app analytics will capture objective usage of each feature. An adaptive engagement design will be employed to engage non-users of both apps, whereby analytics data indicating non-use will trigger additional support (e.g., text messages promoting engagement). Mental health outcomes and potential moderators/covariates will be assessed at baseline, post-test, and 6 months. Participants will also complete 1-week “bursts” of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) at baseline and over the last week of the intervention to capture the mechanistic target (i.e., emotion regulation) in real time. All participants will be invited to complete qualitative post-test interviews. The quantitative and qualitative data will be integrated into a mixed-methods analysis.

Results:

Enrollment into the trial started in December 2024 and is currently underway. Study results are anticipated to be available in 2026.

Conclusions:

Completion of this pilot trial will inform a future, fully-powered RCT to formally evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of Bodhi AIM+. Its use of implementation science methods coupled with digital technology positions the present study not only to help make meditation tools available to an important workforce at scale, but also to inform broader efforts at implementing and evaluating health apps within workplace settings. Clinical Trial: This trial is registered on ClincialTrials.gov (NCT06555172).