Randomized controlled trial of a web‐based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) program to promote mental health in university students

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated a 4-week web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) mental health promotion intervention for university students.Method: Participants were randomized to intervention (n = 596) or waitlist control (n = 566). Assessment of primary outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress, well-being, selfcompassion, life satisfaction, and academic performance) and ACT processes (acceptance, cognitive fusion, education values, valued living, and present moment awareness) occurred at pre-and post-intervention and 12-week follow-up for intervention participants, and the same pre-post interval for waitlist control participants.Results: Analyses showed significant improvements from pre-to post-intervention compared with waitlist control on all primary outcomes and ACT processes. All intervention gains were maintained at follow-up. Improvements on all primary outcomes were mediated by three or more ACT processes in both samples. Intervention effects were consistent across both sample groupings.Conclusion: Findings provide support for a web-based ACT mental health promotion intervention for university students. K E Y W O R D SAcceptance and Commitment Therapy, mental health promotion, telepsychology, university students, web-based

Rapid telepsychology deployment during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A special issue commentary and lessons from primary care psychology training

“…Ironically, telepsychological approaches such as wearable devices may actually be more appealing to people holding negative views toward psychological treatment and who have less experience in help‐seeking (Hunkin, King, & Zajac, 2020). Other extremely promising web‐based approaches that have the potential to reach individuals not entering traditional treatment, or as a supplement to traditional treatment, are showcased in this special issue, including Acceptance and Commitment therapy for college students (Viskovich & Pakenham, 2020), an avatar‐based intervention for military family caregivers (Wilcox, 2020), and a self‐management positive psychology intervention (Görges, Oehler, von Hirschhausen, Hegerl, & Rummel‐Kluge, 2020). As Heesacker et al (2020) note, web‐based interventions such as these are showing respectable levels of feasibility and efficacy, although treatment computerization represents an extension of traditional mental health care providers, not a replacement.…”

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on telepsychology: Research, training, practice, and policy

“…The eight papers in this section address common concerns that often accompany clinical psychology. The randomized controlled trial of a web‐based application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2011) for college students extends the evidence base for this approach (Viskovich & Pakenham, 2020). It also demonstrates how university counseling centers can offer evidence‐based treatments to students using telepsychology.…”

Evaluation of a web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) program to increase self-care and mental health skills in university students

“…Research has investigated the use of web-based ACT interventions to increase education values in university students, and their subsequent effects on academic and mental health outcomes. These studies have reported increases in participants' education values from pre-to post-intervention (Levin et al, 2015;Levin et al, 2014;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b. Furthermore, these increases were maintained at 3-week (Levin et al, 2014) and 3-month follow-ups (Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018b).…”

“…Values and committed action processes are taught through experiential exercises that are designed to facilitate values clarification, goal setting, and the development of strategies to act on chosen targets. Commonly used exercises in web-based interventions are the values card sort (Levin, Hayes, et al, 2016;Levin et al, 2014;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b; and the setting of specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-oriented (SMART) goals (Chase et al, 2013;Paliliunas et al, 2018;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b. The 80 th…”

“…In university student samples, self-reported, active connection with values is associated with improvements in psychological well-being (Ciarrochi et al, 2011;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b; life satisfaction (Eustis et al, 2018;Rasanen et al, 2016;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b; distress (Eustis et al, 2018;Levin, Haeger, et al, 2016;Rasanen et al, 2016;Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018a, 2018b; and grade point average (Chase et al, 2013;Paliliunas et al, 2018;Sandoz et al, 2017). Values-focused interventions, therefore, show potential to not only decrease distress, but also to build positive psychological states and improve academic performance.…”