The effectiveness of a five-session workshop on the distress of international students in Finland – a pilot study

ABSTRACT

The mental health of international students has become a concern, as they face high levels of psychological distress. We designed a five-week acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) workshop with two additional individual assessment meetings. The intervention aimed at helping international students attending a Finnish university to reduce their symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, and enhance skills of psychological flexibility. The post-assessment was conducted seven weeks after the pre-measurement. Using data from 53 participants, an evaluation indicated that statistically and clinically significant reductions in symptoms were observed, and the workshop was well received. Regression analyses revealed that changes in psychological inflexibility, mindfulness, and value-based living acted as predictors of change in symptoms. Furthermore, changes in these psychological skills predicted changes in different kinds of distress. This study suggests that a brief group intervention might be a feasible alternative for enhancing the psychological well-being of international students.

KEYWORDS:

• Mental health
• international students
• acceptance and commitment therapy
• psychological flexibility

Data availability statement

The data of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the international students who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The study was partially funded by Student Life, a unit of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Jyvaskylan Yliopisto Psykologian laitos.

Notes on contributors

Francesca Brandolin

Francesca Brandolin, doctoral researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. A licensed clinical psychologist, in Italy. Previous studies are bachelor in Psychological Sciences and Techniques and an international master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. During the last year of the master and post-graduate internship she got involved in different research projects dealing with brief psychological interventions for student’s wellbeing and stress management, and virtual reality (VR) interventions for social anxiety and public speaking at the department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä. Her ongoing research in the past six years involve the efficacy of a brief low-threshold workshop on the distress of international students, both delivered face-to-face or online through videoconference during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, she has the first two articles of her dissertation accepted for publication and the third one in submission. Brandolin is an active member in the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science.

Päivi Lappalainen

Päivi Lappalainen, PhD. PostDoctoral Researcher has published over 40 papers in the area of web-based and mobile eHealth interventions based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She has also been the digital content lead (psychology) for 18 web-based and mobile interventions, including web and mobile applications for preventing stress and promoting well-being of working age individuals, depressive symptoms, insomnia and chronic conditions. Therefore, she is one of the world leading experts in the field of digital ACT interventions. During the last 11 years she has been involved in and managed research projects dealing with web-based and mobile interventions at the department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä. Her ongoing research projects involve the efficacy of a web-based psychological intervention for parents experiencing stress and burnout, a web-based psychological rehabilitation programme for working age individuals suffering from depressive symptoms, and virtual reality (VR) interventions for social anxiety and public speaking. Dr. Lappalainen has been in charge of several randomised controlled trials investigating digital solutions for people of all ages. Currently, she is co-supervising three doctoral students in psychology and several Bachelor and Master’s students. Lappalainen is an active member in the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science.

Simone Gorinelli

Simone Gorinelli, doctoral and project researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. His research focuses on the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) exposure, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and Relational Frame Theory (RFT) training on social and public speaking interaction of university students aimed to increase performing skills of university students through an integration between Psychology and Technology. Project researcher in an international research project VRperGENERE, in which the aim is to reduce intimate partner violence through the deployment of cost-effective prevention and rehabilitation tools based on immersive Virtual Reality (VR). Co-facilitator in the Student Compass wellbeing group workshop for international students.

Joona Muotka

Joona Muotka, university lecturer and researcher specialised in statistics and research methods for social sciences at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He collaborated in many research projects and papers in various area of psychology such as: MOTILEAD - The importance of leadership motivation in the career paths and well-being of highly educated people, Reducing the workload and usefulness of remote team meetings with physiological metrics, STAIRWAY – From Primary School to Secondary School/Youth COMPASS study promoting learning, school well-being and successful educational transitions.

Panajiota Räsänen

Panajiota Räsänen, Project Researcher (student wellbeing) and Student Life’s Study- and Wellbeing expert at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has been actively involved in the development and implementation of the innovative SL’s three-step wellbeing support model offered at JYU to students. She has been training and supervising over 250 psychology Master’s level students to work as well-being coaches in delivering an acceptance and mindfulness-based intervention called The Student Compass. The programme is a permanent service of the university and part of Student Life’s wider cluster of three-step wellbeing support. Her research primarily focuses on the area of brief, blended Acceptance and Commitment Therapy interventions for university students to enhance their psychological, emotional, social wellbeing and alleviate depression, anxiety, and stress. One recent collaboration involves Integra, which is a project funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Integra is an educational model that integrates university language and content studies for immigrants who have completed or are qualified for higher education. Räsänen offers psychosocial workshops and counselling to the programme’s participants.

Raimo Lappalainen

Raimo Lappalainen, Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Professor in clinical psychology and psychotherapy at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. A licensed psychologist and psychotherapist. He has acted as the vice head and the head of the Department of Psychology between years 2008-2013. He has over 25 years’ experience of Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) with expertise especially in the third wave CBT, acceptance and value –based interventions. Author of more than 100 scientific articles and books. He has special expertise in applying and constructing web- and mobile-based psychological interventions. His main research interests are development of brief psychological interventions, including web- and mobile -based interventions for wellbeing and wellness management. Received the Public Information Award (2015) by the Jyväskylä University Foundation for his research group’s achievement of developing web and mobile interventions.