Efficacy of a single-session online ACT-based mindfulness intervention among undergraduates in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 has trickle-down psychological effects on multiple strata of society, particularly university students. Apart from the worry of contracting or spreading COVID-19, Malaysian university students were also locked down on their campuses, suffering significant psychological distress. Hence, an online mindfulness intervention was proposed to alleviate psychological distress and improve psychological flexibility and mindfulness. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with university students as participants. Intervention group participants were instructed to complete online questionnaires which covered basic demographics and instruments assessing depression, anxiety, stress, mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and fear of COVID-19 before and after the one-hour intervention. The control group also completed before and after questionnaires and were subsequently crossed over to the intervention group. Repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to assess time*group effects. Results: 118 participants were involved in this study. There were significant differences in anxiety (F (1,116) = 34.361, p < 0.001, partial eta-squared = 0.229) and psychological flexibility between the two groups (F (1,116) = 11.010, p = 0.001, partial eta-squared = 0.087), while there were no differences in depression, stress, mindfulness, or fear of COVID-19. Conclusion:The results of this study corroborate the efficacy of online single-session mindfulness therapy as a viable short-term psychological intervention under financial and time constraints. Since university students are in the age group with the highest incidence of depressive and anxiety disorders, it is crucial to utilize resources to address as many students as possible to ensure maximum benefit.

Relationships between Psychopathology, Psychological Process Variables, and Sociodemographic Variables and Comparison of Quarantined and Non-Quarantined Groups of Malaysian University Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Suggestions that have been employed by UMS in this direction include small focus groups online, randomized psychological first aid calls to students and frontline workers, and an online teleconsultation portal to perform brief psychological interventions. As the pandemic enters its second year, various evidencebased strategies that have been employed in this sample group include online mindfulnessbased interventions targeting psychological mindedness [73], the setting up of Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills training groups as part of an overall intervention for students with higher levels of psychopathology, and transitioning of offline activities such as quiz competitions and international debate competitions to an online format successfully to reduce isolation and increase connectedness and a sense of belonging [46].…”

Adaptation and Validation of the Malay Version of the SAVE-9 Viral Epidemic Anxiety Scale for Healthcare Workers

“…There are ultra-brief psychological interventions that can be performed in ward settings, which have been demonstrated to be efficacious in providing the quickest form of psychological interventions to reduce morbidity [ 39 ]. Telehealth single-session mindfulness interventions have been demonstrated to be equally helpful in improving psychological flexibility and cognitive flexibility [ 40 ].…”

Online group interventions for mental health promotion of college students: Integrative review

“…The online intervention was as effective as the face-to-face intervention. II Pang et al (2021) The results of this experimental study suggest that both mindfulness and social support, provided via mHealth, are hopeful in reducing distress among young adults in quarantine, with mindfulness being particularly effective in treating anxiety. Results showed that compared to mHealth social support, mHealth mindfulness had a superior effect on anxiety.…”

“…Regarding the number of sessions in online group interventions, the minimum number reported was one session (e.g., Mayor-Silva et al, 2021;Pang et al, 2021) and the highest number was 20 sessions, across 10 weeks (e.g., Maddah et al, 2021). The most common configuration regarding the number of sessions was between four and eight, identified in 53.8% of the research presented (n = 7), such as in the studies by Ritvo et al (2021) In relation to the intervention analysis, 84.6% of the studies had a control group for comparison of the data collected (e.g., Krägeloh et al, 2019) and 92.3% used a pre-test and post-test design (e.g., Marenus et al, 2021).…”