During the course of their studies, students suffer from a deterioration in their health compared to the general population, to which events such as the COVID pandemic also contribute. It is therefore important to develop prevention programs for students to promote mental health. The working group has developed a prevention program based on acceptance and commitment therapy ACT.
ACT is a modern method of behavioral therapy that supports people in dealing with difficulties in their lives in a psychologically flexible manner promoting so-called psychological flexibility.
Previous studies have shown that people who have psychological flexibility feel less stress, feel better, can cope with problems more easily, and have a higher quality of life and performance. In an initial study on psychotherapy students, the program developed, which was led by two psychotherapists, was shown to be very successful in promoting the mental health of the students. In the next step, former participants of the program were trained as so-called "peer health coaches" who, accompanied by two psychotherapists, conducted the training themselves for the next year of psychotherapy students in the master's program.
In the planned study, the training will be offered to bachelor's students for the first time and a control group will be included in the study. The control group consists of those interested in the training who will receive the training at a later date. The study data will be recorded before the start of the training, four weeks after the start of the training, one week after the end of the training, and four and 12 weeks after the end of the training.
The main focus will be on changes in psychological flexibility at the end of the training, as well as changes in psychological stress, the ability to deal with emotions, quality of life, psychological resilience and self-compassion.
