Pub Date : 2023-12-21DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2297883
Riley L. Pugh, Kaitlyn McLachlan, Stephen P. Lewis
{"title":"Understanding the impact of involuntary discoveries of nonsuicidal self-injury: a thematic analysis","authors":"Riley L. Pugh, Kaitlyn McLachlan, Stephen P. Lewis","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2297883","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2297883","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138951280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-14DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2292208
P. F. Jonah Li, Chi-Keung Chan, Yi Jenny Xiao, Maeve O’Donnell
This study explored the factor structures, partial correlational, unique and indirect associations of meaning and purpose with depressive symptoms and suicide ideation in college students (n = 956)...
{"title":"A further comparison between meaning and purpose: Examining factor structures, partial correlational, unique, and indirect associations with mental health outcomes","authors":"P. F. Jonah Li, Chi-Keung Chan, Yi Jenny Xiao, Maeve O’Donnell","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2292208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2292208","url":null,"abstract":"This study explored the factor structures, partial correlational, unique and indirect associations of meaning and purpose with depressive symptoms and suicide ideation in college students (n = 956)...","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138686516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-11DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2281946
Katie Aafjes-van Doorn, Daniel S. Spina, Bernard S Gorman, Karl Stukenberg, Federica Genova, Sherwood Waldron
Despite the vast clinical and theoretical literature on what the analytic process should look like, we know very little empirically about the actual analytic process in long-term psychoanalytic tre...
{"title":"An empirical exploration of psychoanalytic processes and outcomes in 27 long-term psychoanalytic treatments","authors":"Katie Aafjes-van Doorn, Daniel S. Spina, Bernard S Gorman, Karl Stukenberg, Federica Genova, Sherwood Waldron","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2281946","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2281946","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the vast clinical and theoretical literature on what the analytic process should look like, we know very little empirically about the actual analytic process in long-term psychoanalytic tre...","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138686517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-08DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2292212
Adam Klocek, Tomáš Řiháček
This study aims to assess pre-post change of 439 patients undergoing a multicomponent treatment (psychodynamic psychotherapy complemented with other treatment components) using a novel network meth...
{"title":"A multicomponent psychodynamic treatment for comorbid disorders: a baseline and post-treatment network comparison","authors":"Adam Klocek, Tomáš Řiháček","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2292212","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2292212","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to assess pre-post change of 439 patients undergoing a multicomponent treatment (psychodynamic psychotherapy complemented with other treatment components) using a novel network meth...","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138567571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-09DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2277318
Hawra Al-Khaz’Aly, Shayndel Jim, Chye Hong Liew, Gabriel Zamudio, Ling Jin
ABSTRACTThe majority of research on mental wellness has been focused on Western societies, while little is known about cross-cultural differences of mental wellness and factors associating with mental wellness. The present cross-cultural research examined the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and mental wellness among groups recruited from the United States (US), Mexico, and China. A total of 1,198 participants (359 from the US, 432 from Mexico, 407 from China; 55.50% female, 44.50% male) completed the survey study. The moderation effect of country of membership in the relationship between IU-depressive symptoms/life satisfaction was investigated through PROCESS Model 1. Our results revealed that country of membership did not moderate the relationship between IU and depressive symptoms, indicating that the IU-depressive symptom link is culturally invariant. On the other hand, country of membership statistically significantly moderated the relationship between IU and life satisfaction (p < .001, R2 = .10). Specifically, greater IU was inversely associated with life satisfaction amongst US and Mexican individuals, but not for Chinese individuals. Findings suggest cross-cultural variations in the relationship between IU and life satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and future directions were offered.KEYWORDS: Intolerance of uncertaintymental wellnessdepressive symptomslife satisfactioncross-cultural research Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
{"title":"Relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and mental wellness: a cross-cultural examination","authors":"Hawra Al-Khaz’Aly, Shayndel Jim, Chye Hong Liew, Gabriel Zamudio, Ling Jin","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2277318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2277318","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThe majority of research on mental wellness has been focused on Western societies, while little is known about cross-cultural differences of mental wellness and factors associating with mental wellness. The present cross-cultural research examined the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and mental wellness among groups recruited from the United States (US), Mexico, and China. A total of 1,198 participants (359 from the US, 432 from Mexico, 407 from China; 55.50% female, 44.50% male) completed the survey study. The moderation effect of country of membership in the relationship between IU-depressive symptoms/life satisfaction was investigated through PROCESS Model 1. Our results revealed that country of membership did not moderate the relationship between IU and depressive symptoms, indicating that the IU-depressive symptom link is culturally invariant. On the other hand, country of membership statistically significantly moderated the relationship between IU and life satisfaction (p < .001, R2 = .10). Specifically, greater IU was inversely associated with life satisfaction amongst US and Mexican individuals, but not for Chinese individuals. Findings suggest cross-cultural variations in the relationship between IU and life satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and future directions were offered.KEYWORDS: Intolerance of uncertaintymental wellnessdepressive symptomslife satisfactioncross-cultural research Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135285974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2276219
R. Benakovic, M. J. Wilson, D. Kealy, S. M. Rice, J. L. Oliffe, P. Sharp, Z. E. Seidler
ABSTRACTMale veterans are vastly over-represented in suicide rates relative to non-veterans. A critical avenue for improving male veterans’ mental health outcomes is improving their engagement with mental health services. This study presents a qualitative investigation of mental health practitioners’ perspectives on enhancers of engagement in, and drivers of dropout from therapy among male veterans. Participants were 138 mental health practitioners across Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK (44.9% male; age M = 47.5 years, SD = 12 years). Participants responded to qualitative survey items inquiring about their perspectives on what works to engage male veterans in therapy, alongside common drivers of therapy dropout. Under an overarching theme contextualising the therapeutic alliance between veterans and mental health practitioners, interpretive description analyses led to eight distinct subthemes. Results highlight the range of areas in which mental health practitioners can thoughtfully adapt their practice to engage male veterans and align with military masculinities. In addition, findings underscore the range of barriers facing veterans when they seek help, which can precipitate dropout if not overcome by the right balance between practitioner engagement and veteran persistence.KEYWORDS: Male veteranspractitionerengagementdropouttherapy AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling for their support for this study. We also thank Mark Smith for his support with recruitment, and acknowledge all participants for their valuable contribution to this research.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, RB. The data will be stored on the servers of Orygen and provided to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal and who have ethics approval from a research institution. Access will be subject to approvals on a case-by-case basis.Geolocation informationParticipants were recruited from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand to complete the online survey. Data was collected and analysed at Orygen, Melbourne, Australia.Additional informationFundingThe authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Notes on contributorsR. BenakovicRuben Benakovic is a project manager with Orygen at The University of Melbourne. For the past year he has worked across a range of projects focused on men’s mental health and health service engagement. His research interests include psychotherapeutic engagement and social determinants of mental ill-health among men, and social connectedness as a vehicle for men’s mental health promotion.M. J. WilsonMichael J. Wilson is a project manager
E. SeidlerZac E. Seidler博士毕业于澳大利亚悉尼大学。他目前是墨尔本大学Orygen的高级研究员,也是Movember的心理健康培训主任。他的专业兴趣领域包括男孩和男性的医疗保健经验,调整服务以满足男孩和男性的需求,以及更好地理解高且不断上升的男性自杀率。
{"title":"Drivers of dropout and enhancers of engagement for male military veterans in therapy: practitioner perspectives","authors":"R. Benakovic, M. J. Wilson, D. Kealy, S. M. Rice, J. L. Oliffe, P. Sharp, Z. E. Seidler","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2276219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2276219","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTMale veterans are vastly over-represented in suicide rates relative to non-veterans. A critical avenue for improving male veterans’ mental health outcomes is improving their engagement with mental health services. This study presents a qualitative investigation of mental health practitioners’ perspectives on enhancers of engagement in, and drivers of dropout from therapy among male veterans. Participants were 138 mental health practitioners across Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK (44.9% male; age M = 47.5 years, SD = 12 years). Participants responded to qualitative survey items inquiring about their perspectives on what works to engage male veterans in therapy, alongside common drivers of therapy dropout. Under an overarching theme contextualising the therapeutic alliance between veterans and mental health practitioners, interpretive description analyses led to eight distinct subthemes. Results highlight the range of areas in which mental health practitioners can thoughtfully adapt their practice to engage male veterans and align with military masculinities. In addition, findings underscore the range of barriers facing veterans when they seek help, which can precipitate dropout if not overcome by the right balance between practitioner engagement and veteran persistence.KEYWORDS: Male veteranspractitionerengagementdropouttherapy AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank the Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and Open Arms - Veterans & Families Counselling for their support for this study. We also thank Mark Smith for his support with recruitment, and acknowledge all participants for their valuable contribution to this research.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, RB. The data will be stored on the servers of Orygen and provided to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal and who have ethics approval from a research institution. Access will be subject to approvals on a case-by-case basis.Geolocation informationParticipants were recruited from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand to complete the online survey. Data was collected and analysed at Orygen, Melbourne, Australia.Additional informationFundingThe authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Notes on contributorsR. BenakovicRuben Benakovic is a project manager with Orygen at The University of Melbourne. For the past year he has worked across a range of projects focused on men’s mental health and health service engagement. His research interests include psychotherapeutic engagement and social determinants of mental ill-health among men, and social connectedness as a vehicle for men’s mental health promotion.M. J. WilsonMichael J. Wilson is a project manager ","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135973679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-30DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2274607
Shimrit Telraz Cohen, Shahar Gindi
ABSTRACTThis qualitative study explored the experiences of child psychotherapists who were inexperienced in online therapy and transitioned in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing online therapy to children poses distinct challenges due to different factors, including the focus on play and developmental differences. The study aimed to shed light on the therapists’ perceptions of the therapeutic space in online therapy, and the impact of the transition on the practice of child psychotherapy. Twenty experienced child psychotherapists were interviewed in depth to explore their experiences of transitioning to online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Participants were recruited voluntarily using convenience and snowball sampling. The study was designed and analyzed by two experienced clinical psychologists using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that the online space is an integral part of the transformative processes in psychotherapy for children and youth, and psychotherapists can make necessary adjustments to the new setting through adaptability.The study underscored the challenge of finding flexible personal resources to promote adaptation processes to change.KEYWORDS: Therapy settingtelehealthCOVID-19child psychotherapyonline psychotherapy Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. The expression “most” (of the interviews) relates to 11 or more participants; the expression “some” (of the interviews) relates to 5–7 participants.2. All participants’ names are pseudonyms.3. “Holding” refers to the therapist’s ability to provide a safe and supportive environment for the client to explore their emotions and experiences; a term coined by Winnicott (Citation1960) to describe the quality of the maternal care that creates a sense of security and continuity for the infant.Additional informationFundingThe work was supported by the Unit of gender equality at Beit Berl College.
{"title":"Necessity is the mother of invention: Experiences of Israeli women child psychotherapists inexperienced in online therapy regarding the therapeutic space during COVID-19","authors":"Shimrit Telraz Cohen, Shahar Gindi","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2274607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2274607","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis qualitative study explored the experiences of child psychotherapists who were inexperienced in online therapy and transitioned in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing online therapy to children poses distinct challenges due to different factors, including the focus on play and developmental differences. The study aimed to shed light on the therapists’ perceptions of the therapeutic space in online therapy, and the impact of the transition on the practice of child psychotherapy. Twenty experienced child psychotherapists were interviewed in depth to explore their experiences of transitioning to online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Participants were recruited voluntarily using convenience and snowball sampling. The study was designed and analyzed by two experienced clinical psychologists using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that the online space is an integral part of the transformative processes in psychotherapy for children and youth, and psychotherapists can make necessary adjustments to the new setting through adaptability.The study underscored the challenge of finding flexible personal resources to promote adaptation processes to change.KEYWORDS: Therapy settingtelehealthCOVID-19child psychotherapyonline psychotherapy Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. The expression “most” (of the interviews) relates to 11 or more participants; the expression “some” (of the interviews) relates to 5–7 participants.2. All participants’ names are pseudonyms.3. “Holding” refers to the therapist’s ability to provide a safe and supportive environment for the client to explore their emotions and experiences; a term coined by Winnicott (Citation1960) to describe the quality of the maternal care that creates a sense of security and continuity for the infant.Additional informationFundingThe work was supported by the Unit of gender equality at Beit Berl College.","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136067785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-12DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2255989
Razieh Pak, Majid Mahmoud Alilou, Mansur Bayrami, Abass Bakhshi Pour Roudsari
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is the most common anxiety disorder and has serious negative effects on multiple areas of life. The possibility of comorbidity with other disorders and malfunction in different domains of life exists in both full-blown and subclinical social anxiety. This study aimed to compare the schema modes and self-beliefs related to social anxiety in individuals with subclinical social anxiety disorder and without social anxiety disorder. Multistage cluster random and purposive sampling methods were used to select 100 students, 50 with and 50 without symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Participants were evaluated in regard to schema modes, self-beliefs related to social anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. They were then evaluated clinically through Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Data analysis was performed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) which showed that there was a significant difference between the groups of individuals with and without symptoms of social anxiety in schema modes and self-beliefs related to social anxiety (p < 0.001). The obtained results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the dimensions of vulnerability underlying subclinical social anxiety disorder in the relationship between symptoms of subclinical social anxiety disorder and schema modes.
社交焦虑障碍(SAD)是最常见的焦虑障碍,对生活的多个领域都有严重的负面影响。在成熟的和亚临床的社交焦虑中,在不同的生活领域存在与其他疾病和功能障碍共病的可能性。本研究旨在比较亚临床社交焦虑障碍和非临床社交焦虑障碍个体与社交焦虑相关的图式模式和自我信念。采用多阶段整群随机抽样和目的抽样的方法,选取100名学生,其中有社交焦虑障碍症状的学生50名,无社交焦虑障碍症状的学生50名。对参与者的图式模式、与社交焦虑、社交焦虑、抑郁和广泛性焦虑障碍相关的自我信念进行评估。然后通过DSM-5 (SCID-5)的结构化临床访谈对他们进行临床评估。数据分析采用多变量方差分析(Multivariate analysis of Variance, MANOVA),结果显示有和没有社交焦虑症状的个体在图式模式和与社交焦虑相关的自我信念方面存在显著差异(p < 0.001)。本研究结果有助于深入理解亚临床社交焦虑障碍的脆弱性维度以及亚临床社交焦虑障碍症状与图式模式之间的关系。
{"title":"A comparison of schema modes and self-beliefs related to social anxiety in individuals with subclinical social anxiety disorder and without social anxiety disorder: a preliminary finding","authors":"Razieh Pak, Majid Mahmoud Alilou, Mansur Bayrami, Abass Bakhshi Pour Roudsari","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2255989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2255989","url":null,"abstract":"Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is the most common anxiety disorder and has serious negative effects on multiple areas of life. The possibility of comorbidity with other disorders and malfunction in different domains of life exists in both full-blown and subclinical social anxiety. This study aimed to compare the schema modes and self-beliefs related to social anxiety in individuals with subclinical social anxiety disorder and without social anxiety disorder. Multistage cluster random and purposive sampling methods were used to select 100 students, 50 with and 50 without symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Participants were evaluated in regard to schema modes, self-beliefs related to social anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. They were then evaluated clinically through Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Data analysis was performed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) which showed that there was a significant difference between the groups of individuals with and without symptoms of social anxiety in schema modes and self-beliefs related to social anxiety (p < 0.001). The obtained results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the dimensions of vulnerability underlying subclinical social anxiety disorder in the relationship between symptoms of subclinical social anxiety disorder and schema modes.","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135826508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-10DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2023.2254726
Francesca Brandolin, Päivi Lappalainen, Simone Gorinelli, Joona Muotka, Raimo Lappalainen
Studies have shown that international students are at increased risk of experiencing poor mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has had further negative impacts on the psychological well-being of students. In this quasi-experimental study, we examined the impact of a brief acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) -based group intervention delivered by videoconference (ACT videoconference; n = 48). We used an equivalent in-person group intervention administrated prior to the pandemic as a reference group (ACT face-to-face; n = 53). In addition, we investigated the exposure – response relationship, dropout attrition, acceptability, and user experiences. International university students participated in five online group meetings using a videoconferencing app during the COVID-19 pandemic and were compared with students participating in five face-to-face group meetings prior to the pandemic. Symptoms (stress, anxiety, depression) and process measures (psychological inflexibility, mindfulness, engaged living) indicated similar positive changes in both groups (e.g. PSS-10, ACT videoconference dw = 0.54; ACT face-to face dw = 0.94; AFQ-Y, ACT videoconference dw = 0.55; ACT face-to-face, dw = 0.84), with a slightly larger effect in the ACT face-to-face group. This study suggests that brief ACT-based group workshops can be effective in enhancing the psychological flexibility of international university students, and decreasing symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety whether delivered by video-conference or face-to-face format.
{"title":"Examining the effectiveness and acceptability of a group-based ACT intervention delivered by videoconference to international university students during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Francesca Brandolin, Päivi Lappalainen, Simone Gorinelli, Joona Muotka, Raimo Lappalainen","doi":"10.1080/09515070.2023.2254726","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2254726","url":null,"abstract":"Studies have shown that international students are at increased risk of experiencing poor mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has had further negative impacts on the psychological well-being of students. In this quasi-experimental study, we examined the impact of a brief acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) -based group intervention delivered by videoconference (ACT videoconference; n = 48). We used an equivalent in-person group intervention administrated prior to the pandemic as a reference group (ACT face-to-face; n = 53). In addition, we investigated the exposure – response relationship, dropout attrition, acceptability, and user experiences. International university students participated in five online group meetings using a videoconferencing app during the COVID-19 pandemic and were compared with students participating in five face-to-face group meetings prior to the pandemic. Symptoms (stress, anxiety, depression) and process measures (psychological inflexibility, mindfulness, engaged living) indicated similar positive changes in both groups (e.g. PSS-10, ACT videoconference dw = 0.54; ACT face-to face dw = 0.94; AFQ-Y, ACT videoconference dw = 0.55; ACT face-to-face, dw = 0.84), with a slightly larger effect in the ACT face-to-face group. This study suggests that brief ACT-based group workshops can be effective in enhancing the psychological flexibility of international university students, and decreasing symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety whether delivered by video-conference or face-to-face format.","PeriodicalId":51653,"journal":{"name":"Counselling Psychology Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136071911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}