University students face significant mental health challenges and often have difficulties seeking and obtaining mental health care. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) seeks to increase psychological flexibility and valued living, and is well-suited for a transdiagnostic, skills-based approach that can support students with diverse needs. Embedding interventions in university courses may reach more students. A brief, four session ACT intervention plus follow-up, “Brief ACT for Undergraduates,” was delivered by a trained graduate student to 22 students participating in an undergraduate psychology seminar. Roughly half of the sample met clinical cutoffs on validated measures. Stress and anxiety decreased at follow-up. Students rated the intervention as helpful and accessible and reported moderate engagement with skills outside of class. These pilot results suggest embedding ACT within a university course is a beneficial way to support student mental health. Study limitations and future recommendations discussed, and the need for large-scale replication and RCTs emphasized.

Background: Research indicates that the management of distress levels in those with cardiac disease is not only important for improving quality of life and functioning but also critical for condition management; adherence to treatment; and, ultimately, disease prognosis and progression. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has consistently demonstrated positive long-term outcomes across a wide array of conditions, including chronic illness. However, most empirical investigations conducted to date have also involved in-person therapy, which can be difficult to access, particularly for those dealing with the demands of chronic disease. Objective: The objective of our research is to evaluate a digital ACT intervention for improving self-management behaviors and distress levels in those with cardiac conditions. Methods: The digital ACT intervention will be delivered via a digital health self-management platform over 6 sessions. This will involve a randomized, multiple baseline, single case experimental design with approximately 3 to 15 adults with cardiac disease. The independent variable for each participant will be the pre-post intervention phase. The dependent variables will be a daily self-report measure of psychological flexibility as well as objective measures of condition self-management (eg, blood pressure readings) and engagement with the app (eg, completing guided mindfulness). One-to-one qualitative interviews will also be conducted to further examine participants’ experiences with using the intervention and what factors contribute to or impede successful outcomes. Results: Participant recruitment and data collection began in October 2021, and it is projected that the study findings will be available for dissemination by spring 2022. Conclusions: The findings will be discussed in terms of how a digital ACT intervention can best meet the needs of cardiac patients. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/33783