The Use of Online-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (e-ACT) to Improve the Psychological Wellbeing among University Students

ABSTRACT

A notable deterioration in mental health, especially anxiety and depression, was seen among university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, immediate preventive action is required to remedy this concern by using the online-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (e-ACT). The effectiveness of this e-ACT on psychological flexibility and mental wellbeing was assessed among 52 Malaysian undergraduate university students aged between 18 and 23 years old during the pandemic. Based on a small group approach, participants received two online e-ACT sessions (a total of 5 hours). The paired sample t-tests result showed a significant improvement on mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and wellbeing among the students. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test showed a significant decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress. These findings support the use of e-ACT mental health education to promote psychological wellbeing among university students. Further empirical studies are needed to test the effectiveness of e-ACT on psychological flexibility and mental wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• e-ACT
• psychological well-being
• depression
• anxiety
• university students

Acknowledgments

We thank the Research and Innovation Management Center (RIMC), Student Welfare and Counselling (UNIK), Undergraduate Studies Division of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) for supporting this study. Our sincere thanks to all participants who had given us their full cooperation throughout the e-ACT session and during the data collection. Finally, and most importantly, huge thank you to our families for their full supports and also the Almighty, for His grace in us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article has not been published elsewhere and has not also been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere and there is no conflict of interest.