ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Detecting change processes during an ACT-based course for enhancing university students' well-being and study skills
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- 2Hameen ammattikorkeakoulu, Hämeenlinna, Finland
- 3Aalto-yliopisto, Aalto, Finland
- 4Helsingin yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based interventions have proven effective in supporting student well-being. However, the change processes occurring during such interventions remain unclear. This study explored changes reported by university students participating in an ACT-based online course which also included study skills. The data included reflection journals and questionnaire responses on psychological flexibility, time and effort management, and study-related burnout at the start and end of the course. Both qualitative and quantitative findings indicated numerous positive effects. Utilizing the transtheoretical model, we identified four change profiles among the students: No Change, Change in Thinking, Initial Change and Change in Behavior profiles. These profiles reflected varying levels of behavior changes related to well-being and studying supported by differing processes of psychological flexibility. While profiles did not differ significantly at the beginning of the course, there was a significant overall increase in psychological flexibility and time and effort management skills, alongside a decrease in study-related burnout dimensions—except for Inadequacy, which increased in the Initial Change profile. Students in this group may benefit from additional support to enhance their well-being and study practices. These findings provide insights into the diverse change processes among students, highlighting the need for tailored support to encourage behavior change. Future research should examine individual differences to better target interventions for students at different stages of change.
Keywords: university students, Well-being, transtheoretical model, time and effort management skills, Psychological flexibility, study-related burnout
Received: 02 Sep 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Katajavuori, Rönkkönen, Postareff, Rytkönen and Asikainen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nina Katajavuori
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