Evaluating the effect of a psychological skills-training App on the wellbeing and burnout risk among medical students

INTERVENTION: BRIEF NAME: Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) • Arm 1: ACT (individualised) • Arm 2: ACT (non‐individualised) • Arm 3: Waiting list (to receive ACT – individualised after waiting period) MATERIALS: Online App (BiSi), available via Google Play Store and Apple App Store Digital device to access App (e.g. iPhone or Android phone, iPad or tablet) – provided by participant. PROCEDURES: 1. Context Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is based on the well‐established psychological flexibility model. Psychological flexibility is a set of adaptive behavioural skills that are associated with wellbeing outcomes. The ACT intervention approach facilitates the development of individual psychological flexibility skills for non‐clinical populations, promoting and facilitating actions that support individual wellbeing (Biglan, Hayes, & Pistorello, 2008; Frögéli, Djordjevic, Rudman, Livheim, & Gustavsson, 2016). Rather than defining uncomfortable internal experiences (e.g. thoughts, emotions, physical sensations) as “symptoms” that need to be changed or eliminated, ACT focuses on altering the way individuals relate to these internal experiences (Steven C. Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012; Reeve, Tickle, & Moghaddam, 2018) and empowering them to respond in ways that are more adaptive in their own lives (Larmar, Wiatrowski, & Lewis‐Driver, 2014). This is accomplished through activities that normalise challenging internal experiences, as well as training individuals to strengthen present‐moment awareness, recognise the influence of their internal experiences over their actions, learn to alter unworkable responses to these internal experiences, and develop more flexible behavioural repertoires that are consistent with their personally chosen CONDITION: Burnout;Psychological Wellbeing; ; Burnout ; Psychological Wellbeing Mental Health ‐ Other mental health disorders Mental Health ‐ Studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour PRIMARY OUTCOME: Burnout:; Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey for Students (MBI – GS (S)) (Schaufeli, Martínez, Pinto, Salanova, & Bakker, 2002)[• T1: Pre‐intervention; • T2: Post‐intervention (5 weeks after randomisation into Stage 2)] SECONDARY OUTCOME: Mental health: ; Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale‐21 (DASS‐21) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995)[• T1: Pre‐intervention ; • T2: Post‐intervention (5 weeks after randomisation into Stage 2) ; ] Psychological Flexibility: ; Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI) – Short Form (J. L. Rolffs et al., 2018)[• T1: Pre‐intervention ; • T2: Post‐intervention (5 weeks after randomisation into Stage 2)] Wellbeing: ; Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC‐SF) (Keyes, 2005) ; [• T1: Pre‐intervention ; • T2: Post‐intervention (5 weeks after randomisation into Stage 2)] INCLUSION CRITERIA: ‐ Enrolled in first, second, fourth, or fifth year undergraduate medicine at the University of Newcastle or University of New England ‐ Regular access to reliable wifi ‐ Regular access to an electronic device compatible with App utilisation (smartphone or tablet)