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"Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance

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  • Patricia Albulescu
  • Irina Macsinga
  • Andrei Rusu
  • Coralia Sulea
  • Alexandra Bodnaru
  • Bogdan Tudor Tulbure

Abstract

Recovery activities during short breaks taken between work tasks are solutions for preventing the impairing effects of accumulated strain. No wonder then that a growing body of scientific literature from various perspectives emerged on this topic. The present meta-analysis is aimed at estimating the efficacy of micro-breaks in enhancing well-being (vigor and fatigue) and performance, as well as in which conditions and for whom are the micro-breaks most effective. We searched the existent literature on this topic and aggregated the existing data from experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The systematic search revealed 19 records, which resulted in 22 independent study samples (N = 2335). Random-effects meta-analyses shown statistically significant but small effects of micro-breaks in boosting vigor (d = .36, p

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia Albulescu & Irina Macsinga & Andrei Rusu & Coralia Sulea & Alexandra Bodnaru & Bogdan Tudor Tulbure, 2022. ""Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(8), pages 1-27, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0272460
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272460
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