University students’ stress and burnout risk: results of an ACT-based online-course using self-assessments and HRV-measurements

To answer to the need to find effective study-integrated ways to support university students’ well-being, an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) -based online course intervention was conducted with quasi-experimental waiting-list control group design. Our aim with this study was to provide new knowledge of the relations and changes in students’ self-assessed and physiological indicators of well-being and study ability during the course. Participating students (N = 68) completed self-assessments of psychological flexibility, organised study skills, study-related burnout risk, and perceived stress, and part of them (n = 35) participated in heart rate variability (HRV) measurements at the beginning and the end of the course. The results showed that students’ psychological flexibility and organised study skills increased, as study-related burnout risk decreased in the intervention group with significant Time x Group interaction effects compared to the waiting-list control group. Students’ perceived stress decreased in the intervention group, but the Time x Group interaction was not significant. The Time x Group interaction effects of HRV measurements were not statistically significant. The findings of this study indicate that study-integrated ACT-based online course can be effective in supporting university students’ psychological flexibility and organised studying and reducing burnout risk, thus contributing to highly needed research on ways to enhance students’ well-being in higher-education.