Evaluating Training-Related Changes in Profiles of Recovery Experiences

Recovery from work–a multifaceted construct comprising detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control– is essential for maintaining well-being. Hence, it is crucial to investigate whether training programs could successfully promote recovery experiences. Due to the multifaceted nature of the construct, research and practitioners would benefit from a person-centered approach focusing on how people use different combinations (i.e., profiles) of recovery experiences to evaluate training effects comprehensively. However, researchers to date have focused on variable-centered approaches focusing on associations of variables that are assumed to be universal across individuals and have yet to examine whether (membership in) profiles of recovery experiences change systematically due to training. Based on data from a randomized controlled trial (N = 393) aimed at improving recovery in daily life, the current study investigated whether individuals transitioned from one recovery profile to another and whether such transitions were related to changes in well-being-related outcomes (i.e., sleep quality and stress). We found that recovery experience profiles changed in structure from the pre- to the post-intervention measurement occasion and that the majority of participants transitioned to a profile with improved recovery experiences. This was particularly the case for the treatment group. Adaptive transition paths rather than transition paths reflecting a staying tendency or a deterioration were partly associated with improvements in sleep quality and perceived stress.