Re­search

Ever since the de­ve­lop­ment of the Stu­dent Com­pass pro­gram back in 2011, we have been con­ti­nuo­us­ly con­duc­ting ri­go­rous re­search and nu­me­rous stu­dies on the pro­gram and its dif­fe­rent mo­dels of sup­port. Stu­dents at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Jy­väs­ky­lä can use the pro­gram as 1) self-help, 2) with in­di­vi­dual or group coach sup­port, or 3) with the help of our en­hanced gui­dance psyc­ho­lo­gist. The mo­dels that have been ex­ten­si­ve­ly re­searc­hed focus par­ticu­lar­ly on the low th­res­hold of sup­port pro­vi­ded by coac­hes and to a les­ser ex­tend on the self-help op­tion.

The coach-sup­por­ted ver­sion of the pro­gram has been of great in­te­rest to in­ves­ti­ga­te because it is no­vel in the field of stu­dent coun­se­ling in Fin­land and worldwi­de. It is a form of sup­port that was de­ve­lo­ped out of the growing need to of­fer ea­si­ly acces­sible, local, and low-th­res­hold men­tal well-being sup­port to uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents with a pre­ven­ta­ti­ve focus. Tra­di­tio­nal forms of coun­se­ling sup­port have been chal­len­ged to pro­vi­de ef­fec­ti­ve sup­port to the ever-growing amount of stu­dents nee­ding men­tal health sup­port due to many rea­sons, most­ly in­vol­ving li­mi­ted re­sources and un­ders­taf­fed per­son­nel. The need for al­ter­na­ti­ve forms of sup­port in ad­di­tion to tra­di­tio­nal ones has been im­mi­nent. Our re­search team over the cour­se of 10 years has de­ve­lo­ped and tes­ted dif­fe­rent forms of blen­ded sup­port that in­vol­ve the on­li­ne well­being pro­gram of­fe­red with face-to-face or real-time coac­hing sup­port at a dis­tance with the use of te­lecom­mu­nica­tions tech­no­lo­gy ( e.g. vi­deocall) com­bi­ned with on­li­ne writ­ten coach feed­back sup­port via the Stu­dent Com­pass' secu­re plat­form. The coac­hing is of­fe­red by Mas­ter's le­vel psyc­ho­lo­gy stu­dents, who are trai­ned by our psyc­ho­lo­gy per­son­nel in Accep­tance and Com­mit­ment The­ra­py, Be­ha­vio­ral Func­tio­nal Ana­ly­sis, and their prac­tical applica­tion to stu­dent coun­se­ling. Psyc­ho­lo­gy stu­dents recei­ve trai­ning and su­per­vi­sion that enables them to gain pro­fes­sio­nal prac­tical skills du­ring their ad­vanced stu­dies, to de­ve­lop prac­tical know­led­ge and un­ders­tan­ding of coun­se­ling met­hods whi­le pro­vi­ding in­va­luable coac­hing sup­port to uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. Of­fe­ring this op­por­tu­ni­ty to psyc­ho­lo­gy stu­dents is in it­self unique and mea­ning­ful for buil­ding their pro­fes­sio­nal iden­ti­ty even be­fo­re gra­dua­tion. So far, over 900 stu­dents have par­tici­pa­ted in our Fin­nish coach-sup­por­ted pro­grams and over 300 trai­ned coac­hes have been pro­vi­ding the sup­port. In ad­di­tion, over 200 stu­dents have par­tici­pa­ted in our English, Ger­man, and Ita­lian coach-sup­por­ted pro­grams.

The outco­mes of our ran­do­mized cont­rol­led trials on the ef­fec­ti­ve­ness of the pro­gram and its coac­hing sup­port mo­dels have been very encou­ra­ging. The Fin­nish struc­tu­red on­li­ne pro­gram along with coac­hing sup­port (2-3 face-to-face/re­mo­te vi­deo­te­lep­ho­ny ses­sions and 3 ti­mes on­li­ne writ­ten feed­back) has been ef­fec­ti­ve in en­hancing the stu­dents’ emo­tio­nal, social, psyc­ho­lo­gical well-being, self-es­teem, mind­ful­ness skills, and ove­rall sa­tis­fac­tion with life. Par­tici­pa­tion has also ef­fec­ti­ve­ly re­duced percei­ved stress, depres­sion, and anxie­ty symp­toms. We have also con­duc­ted pi­lot stu­dies of our Ger­man and Ita­lian ver­sions with very pro­mi­sing re­sults and we are con­ti­nuing our in­ves­ti­ga­tion with the English ver­sion.  In ad­di­tion to ef­fec­ti­ve­ness re­search, we have in­ves­ti­ga­ted furt­her mec­ha­nisms and com­po­nents of the pro­gram that help explain what is be­ne­ficial and what is not. Be­low, you will find a list of the re­search that has been con­duc­ted so far. Furt­her­mo­re, we have coo­pe­ra­ted with ot­her de­part­ments and uni­ver­si­ties for furt­her dis­se­mi­na­tion of the pro­gram. Some examples inclu­de the col­la­bo­ra­tion with the De­part­ment of Me­dici­ne of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hel­sin­ki and the coun­se­ling team of JAMK Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sciences. Next va­luable coo­pe­ra­tion is with the Uni­ver­si­ty of Tam­pe­re.  

Be­low you will find a list of the cur­rent re­search con­duc­ted on the pro­gram, col­la­bo­ra­tions, publica­tions, awards as well as pre­sen­ta­tions about our pro­gram at in­ter­na­tio­nal scien­ti­fic con­fe­rences. 

Col­la­bo­ra­tion with Tam­pe­re Uni­ver­si­ty (2021-2022)

Tam­pe­re Uni­ver­si­ty has been pi­lo­ting the Stu­dent Com­pass -pro­gram since May 2021. We will con­ti­nue our coo­pe­ra­tion with a new stu­dy that will take place in 2022. In the upco­ming stu­dy, we will exa­mi­ne the pro­gram in self-help and group set­tings. More in­for­ma­tion  

Col­la­bo­ra­tion with the De­part­ment of In­for­ma­tion Tech­no­lo­gy, JYU (2019)  

The pre­li­mi­na­ry re­sults of the fol­lowing re­search were pre­sen­ted at the 9th World Con­fe­rence of Cog­ni­ti­ve-Be­ha­vio­ral The­ra­pies in July 2019. The re­search recei­ved an award by the con­fe­rence's scien­ti­fic com­mit­tee (Best Pos­ter Award)

Rä­sä­nen, P., Nyr­hi­nen, R., Tol­va­nen, A., Lap­pa­lai­nen, R.(2019). What kind of on­li­ne coach sup­port is help­ful in re­ducing psyc­ho­lo­gical di­stress in a blen­ded Accep­tance and Com­mit­ment the­ra­py in­ter­ven­tion? Re­sults from an RCT stu­dy for uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents that emplo­yed Ar­ti­ficial In­tel­li­gence (A.I.) text ana­ly­sis. World Con­fe­rence of Cog­ni­ti­ve Be­ha­vio­ral The­ra­pies, Ber­lin 2019. Pos­ter pre­sen­ta­tion.

Ab­stract: The­re is li­mi­ted re­search exa­mi­ning the ac­ti­ve com­po­nents that may cont­ri­bu­te to the ef­fec­ti­ve­ness of In­ter­net in­ter­ven­tions. One subs­tan­tial com­po­nent in gui­ded in­ter­ven­tions is the feed­back gi­ven to the clients. Litt­le is known as to what kind of feed­back would be ef­fec­ti­ve and use­ful in treat­ment outco­mes. The pre­sent stu­dy explo­red the role of pro­vi­ding on­li­ne writ­ten feed­back from coac­hes on clients’ outco­mes. ACT trai­ned psyc­ho­lo­gy stu­dents of­fe­red sup­port as coac­hes (N=48; 87,5% fe­ma­le, M=26 years) to uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents (N = 123; 83,7% fe­ma­le, M=25 years), who were ran­dom­ly as­sig­ned to two groups that both recei­ved th­ree face-to-face ses­sions and an on­li­ne 5-mo­du­le ACT-ba­sed pro­gram. Group A (iAC­TA, N=62) recei­ved per­so­na­lized, in­di­vi­dual­ly-tai­lo­red writ­ten feed­back and group B (iACTB, N=61) recei­ved semi-struc­tu­red writ­ten feed­back with mi­ni­mal per­so­na­liza­tion op­tions. Par­tici­pants’ texts from the pro­gram’s weekly ho­mework as­sign­ments as well as coac­hes' feed­back were ana­lyzed with ar­ti­ficial in­tel­li­gence (AI) tools. Par­tici­pants in both groups had sig­ni­ficant gains in psyc­ho­lo­gical well-being, psyc­ho­lo­gical flexi­bi­li­ty and mind­ful­ness skills. Percei­ved stress and symp­toms of depres­sion were sig­ni­ficant­ly re­duced. The length of the coach's feed­back did not have an ef­fect on treat­ment outco­mes. In both groups, feed­back that was rich, di­ver­se, tar­ge­ting the par­tici­pant’s reflec­tions was as­socia­ted with a sig­ni­ficant re­duc­tion of stress and depres­sion. The dif­fe­rence was lar­ger for the semi-struc­tu­red group (iACTB) for stress outco­mes. The implica­tions and li­mi­ta­tions of the fin­dings, as well as recom­men­da­tions for fu­tu­re re­search, are discus­sed.  

Coo­pe­ra­tion with JAMK Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sciences, Jy­väs­ky­lä, Fin­land (as part of EDU­FU­TU­RA, 2019-2021)  

The cen­ter of excel­lence Edu­Fu­tu­ra Jy­väs­ky­lä has for­med a unique part­ners­hip in lear­ning, re­search, de­ve­lop­ment, ex­pe­ri­men­ta­tion, and applica­tion re­la­ted to the lea­ding-edge fields in the area. Mem­bers of Edu­Fu­tu­ra inclu­de Uni­ver­si­ty of Jy­väs­ky­lä and JAMK Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sciences. We have been coo­pe­ra­ting with the per­son­nel of JAMK to of­fer the Fin­nish ver­sion of our pro­gram to their stu­dents. We have con­duc­ted a pi­lot stu­dy ear­lier and 2019-2021, we will con­ti­nue with more pi­lot stu­dies. The aim is to es­tablish a mo­del in which pro­fes­sio­nals ot­her than psyc­ho­lo­gists can be­ne­fit from using the Stu­dent Com­pass-pro­gram as a tool in their work.   

Col­la­bo­ra­tion with the Facul­ty of Me­dici­ne, Uni­ver­si­ty of Hel­sin­ki, Fin­land (2018 and 2021)

In 2018 we coo­pe­ra­ted with the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hel­sin­ki's Facul­ty of Me­dici­ne in a joint re­search stu­dy to exa­mi­ne the be­ne­fits of mind­ful­ness skills on stu­dents' well­being and stress ma­na­ge­ment. A sum­ma­ry of the outco­mes can be found be­low. 

Com­pa­ri­son of face-to-face and on­li­ne mind­ful­ness in­ter­ven­tions among healthca­re pro­fes­sio­nal stu­dents in Fin­land: A ran­do­mized cont­rol­led trial Saa­ra Repo, Mar­ko Elo­vai­nio, Eeva Pyö­rä­lä, Ma­rian­ne Ho­lo­pai­nen, Pa­na­jio­ta Rä­sä­nen, Tii­na Pau­nio

Background Pre­vious stu­dies have shown that both face-to-face and on­li­ne mind­ful­ness trai­ning re­duces stress and en­hances well-being in un­der­gra­dua­te stu­dents (Ga­lan­te et al. 2018, Spij­ker­man et al. 2015). The evi­dence concer­ning the ef­fec­ti­ve­ness of mind­ful­ness in­ter­ven­tions among me­dical stu­dents is mixed. The aim of this stu­dy was to test whet­her two ty­pes of mind­ful­ness in­ter­ven­tions, face-to-face trai­ning, and in­ter­net-ba­sed trai­ning could en­hance the stu­dents’ well-being.

Sum­ma­ry of work A ran­do­mized cont­rol­led trial in un­der­gra­dua­te stu­dents was con­duc­ted at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hel­sin­ki. We di­vi­ded the vo­lun­ta­ry stu­dents into th­ree groups 1) cont­rol group (n=40), 2) face-to-face trai­ning group (n=40) and 3) in­ter­net-ba­sed trai­ning group (n=22). The po­ten­tial well-being outco­mes were mea­su­red th­ree ti­mes, at the ba­se­li­ne, post-in­ter­ven­tion and af­ter a four months fol­low-up using the CORE-OM34 and its five do­mains (well-being, symp­toms, func­tio­ning, risk, non-risk). The stu­dy pro­tocol was re­gis­te­red in Cli­nicalT­rials.gob. Sum­ma­ry of re­sults We rec­rui­ted 102 stu­dents (74 fe­ma­le, 26 male, and two ot­her) from all the five stu­dy pro­gram­mes of the facul­ty. In the ba­se­li­ne, 28 % of the par­tici­pants ex­pe­rienced qui­te a lot or a lot of stress. Eight-week in­ter­ven­tions were con­duc­ted in Oc­to­ber and No­vem­ber in 2018. In the face-to-face group, 95 % and the in­ter­net-ba­sed group 81 % comple­ted the cour­se. Near­ly all (97%) of the face-to-face group and the in­ter­net-ba­sed group (93%) would recom­mend the cour­se for ot­hers. The lon­ger-term ef­fect will be exa­mi­ned by com­pa­ring the CORE-OM34 re­sults af­ter the in­ter­ven­tion and in a fol­low up af­ter four months (April 2019).

Discus­sion and Conclusions Par­tici­pants were very com­mit­ted to both in­ter­ven­tions and ex­pe­rienced them use­ful. Our stu­dy-de­sign con­tains not only im­me­dia­te but also the fol­low-up outco­mes of the in­ter­ven­tion. Ba­sed on the­se re­sults, the Facul­ty will deci­de whet­her the stu­dents will be of­fe­red mind­ful­ness cour­ses in the fu­tu­re and what type of trai­ning would be the most sui­table.

Take-home Mes­sa­ges Stress le­vels among the stu­dents of healthca­re pro­fes­sions are high. Our in­ter­ven­tion stu­dy on the two ty­pes of mind­ful­ness cour­ses pro­vi­des va­luable in­for­ma­tion for tho­se who are at the out­set of de­ve­lo­ping stress ma­na­ge­ment trai­ning for stu­dents.  

More info about the stu­dy (in Fin­nish): 

1) Repo, S., Ren­ko­nen, R., & Pau­nio, T. (2020). Tie­toi­suus­tai­dot aut­ta­vat stres­sin­hal­lin­nas­sa. Duo­decim, 136 (7), 725-726. https://www.ter­veys­port­ti.fi/xme­dia/duo/duo15485.pdf

2) https://blogs.hel­sin­ki.fi/tie­toi­suus­tai­to/fi­les/2018/08/Tut­ki­mus­tie­do­te_tie­toi­suus­tai­to­ja_opis­ke­li­joil­le_vs3_blo­giin-tu­le­va.pdf

Publica­tions to peer-re­viewed jour­nals 

To­tal 4 publica­tions (up­da­ted 12.2021)

1) Rä­sä­nen, P., Muot­ka, J., and Lap­pa­lai­nen, R. (2020). Exa­mi­ning me­dia­tors of chan­ge in well­being, stress, and depres­sion in a blen­ded, In­ter­net-ba­sed, ACT in­ter­ven­tion for uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. In­ter­net In­ter­ven­tions Vol 22, 2020, 100343, ISSN 2214-7829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.in­vent.2020.100343

Ab­stract:  A coach-gui­ded Accep­tance and Com­mit­ment The­ra­py (ACT) in­ter­ven­tion that uses a blen­ded ap­proach of two face-to-face and five on­li­ne ses­sions (iACT; N = 33) has been found to be more ef­fec­ti­ve than a wai­ting-list cont­rol con­di­tion (WLC; N = 35) at en­hancing the well­being of uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents whi­le also re­ducing stress and depres­sion. The pre­sent stu­dy explo­red pos­sible me­dia­tors of chan­ge that may account for the outco­mes of the stu­dy. Me­dia­tion ana­ly­ses re­vea­led that chan­ges in the non-reac­ti­vi­ty subsca­le of mind­ful­ness me­dia­ted chan­ges in well­being, depres­sion, and stress in the iACT group. In ad­di­tion, chan­ges in the sen­se of co­he­rence subsca­le of mea­ning­ful­ness me­dia­ted chan­ges in all outco­mes. Psyc­ho­lo­gical flexi­bi­li­ty and cog­ni­ti­ve de­fusion did not me­dia­te chan­ges in outco­mes. The re­sults sug­gest that the use of prac­tices focusing on non-reac­ti­vi­ty, mea­ning the abi­li­ty to al­low thoughts and fee­lings to come and go wit­hout get­ting car­ried away by them, is es­pecial­ly im­por­tant for en­hancing the well­being of uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. A focus on en­hancing mea­ning­ful­ness also plays a sig­ni­ficant role in re­ducing psyc­ho­lo­gical di­stress. The­se fin­dings pro­vi­de a first step toward un­ders­tan­ding the po­ten­tial mec­ha­nisms of chan­ge ta­king place in brief, In­ter­net-sup­por­ted, blen­ded ACT pro­grams. 

2) Rä­sä­nen, P., Lap­pa­lai­nen, P., Muot­ka, J., Tol­va­nen, A. & Lap­pa­lai­nen, R. (2016). An on­li­ne gui­ded ACT in­ter­ven­tion for en­hancing the psyc­ho­lo­gical well­being of uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents: A ran­do­mized cont­rol­led cli­nical trial. Be­ha­viour Re­search and The­ra­py 78, 30–42.

Ab­stract: Stress, anxie­ty, and depres­sion are re­la­ti­ve­ly com­mon problems among uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. An on­li­ne psyc­ho­lo­gical in­ter­ven­tion ai­med at en­hancing the well­being of uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents could be an ef­fec­ti­ve and prac­tical al­ter­na­ti­ve for mee­ting the needs of a uni­ver­si­ty po­pu­la­tion. Uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents (N = 68; 85% fe­ma­le; 19–32 years old) were ran­dom­ly as­sig­ned to eit­her a gui­ded se­ven-week on­li­ne Accep­tance and Com­mit­ment The­ra­py (iACT) in­ter­ven­tion or a wai­ting list cont­rol con­di­tion (WLC). A between-groups pre-post (iACT vs WLC) de­sign with a 12-month fol­low-up for the iACT par­tici­pants was con­duc­ted. The in­ter­ven­tion par­tici­pants were of­fe­red two face-to-face mee­tings, comple­ted on­li­ne exerci­ses du­ring a five-week pe­riod, and recei­ved per­so­nal weekly writ­ten feed­back via the web­si­te from their ran­dom­ly as­sig­ned, trai­ned stu­dent coac­hes. Wait­list par­tici­pants were of­fe­red the in­ter­ven­tion pro­gram soon af­ter the post mea­su­re­ments. Re­sults in this small ef­ficacy trial showed that the iACT par­tici­pants had sig­ni­ficant­ly hig­her gains in well­being (between-group, d = 0.46), life sa­tis­fac­tion (d = 0.65), and mind­ful­ness skills (d = 0.49). In ad­di­tion, iACT par­tici­pants’ self-re­por­ted stress (d = 0.54) and symp­toms of depres­sion (d = 0.69) were sig­ni­ficant­ly re­duced com­pa­red to the par­tici­pants in the cont­rol group. The­se be­ne­fits were main­tai­ned over a 12-month fol­low-up pe­riod (wit­hin iACT group, d = 0.65-0.69, for pri­ma­ry mea­su­res). The re­sults sug­gest that an on­li­ne-ba­sed, coach-gui­ded ACT pro­gram with blen­ded face-to-face and on­li­ne ses­sions could be an ef­fec­ti­ve and well-accep­ted al­ter­na­ti­ve for en­hancing the well­being of uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents.

3) (FI) Lap­pa­lai­nen, R., Kade, K., Nie­mi, A., Rä­sä­nen, P. (2015). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pia­poh­jai­nen verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin tu­ke­mi­seen: Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­si –oh­jel­man vai­kut­ta­vuus, syyt osal­lis­tua, toi­veet ja ko­ke­muk­set. Käyt­täy­ty­mi­sa­na­lyy­si ja -te­ra­pia, 4, 11–28.

4) (FI) Lap­pa­lai­nen, R., Jär­vi­sa­lo, S., Rä­sä­nen, P. & Lap­pa­lai­nen, P. (2012.) Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan poh­jau­tu­van verk­koin­ter­ven­tion vai­kut­ta­vuus yli­opis­to-opis­ke­li­joi­den psy­ko­lo­gi­seen hy­vin­voin­tiin. Käyt­täy­ty­mi­sa­na­lyy­si ja -te­ra­pia, 17(3–4), 20–32.

Mas­ter's the­ses

To­tal 10 Mas­ter's the­ses in Fin­nish & English (up­da­ted 8/2022)

1) (FI) Kont­ti­nen, O. & Kois­ti­nen, P. (2021). On­nel­li­suut­ta läs­nä­olol­la: tie­toi­suus­tai­to­jen yh­teys koet­tuun on­nel­li­suu­teen Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­si -verk­koin­ter­ven­tios­sa. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/78192?show=full

2) (EN) Lant­to, K. (2021). An on­li­ne gui­ded ACT in­ter­ven­tion for stu­dents: What are the stu­dent ex­pe­riences, and do they dif­fer de­pen­ding on anxie­ty le­vel? Mas­ter’s the­sis. Psyc­ho­lo­gy De­part­ment. Uni­ver­si­ty of Jy­väs­ky­lä. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/77009?show=full

Ab­stract: Psyc­ho­lo­gical problems are a se­rious and inc­rea­sing health th­reat to uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. On­li­ne in­ter­ven­tions pre­sent a pro­mi­sing low-cost, easy-access sup­port op­tion. This stu­dy explo­red the stu­dent ex­pe­riences of Stu­dent Com­pass, an on­li­ne gui­ded ACT in­ter­ven­tion de­ve­lo­ped in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Jy­väs­ky­lä. The stu­dy also in­ves­ti­ga­ted whet­her the ex­pe­riences dif­fer de­pen­ding on pre-in­ter­ven­tion anxie­ty le­vels. The in­ter­ven­tion was 7 weeks long and inclu­ded on­li­ne ma­te­rial and sup­port from stu­dent coac­hes in the form of th­ree mee­tings and on­li­ne feed­back. The par­tici­pants (n = 148) fil­led in GAD-7 be­fo­re the in­ter­ven­tion and a ques­tion­nai­re about their ex­pe­riences af­ter the in­ter­ven­tion. The stu­dent ex­pe­riences of the Stu­dent Com­pass were high­ly encou­ra­ging; al­most all the stu­dents were sa­tis­fied with the in­ter­ven­tion and would recom­mend it to their friends. Most stu­dents thought they had gai­ned sig­ni­ficant be­ne­fits from the pro­gram, such as lear­ning new skills, gai­ning in­sight, and no­ticing im­pro­ve­ments in their men­tal well-being. The most use­ful as­pect of the in­ter­ven­tion was thought to be the coac­hing sup­port, and most stu­dents felt the amount of sup­port was suf­ficient. The ex­pe­riences did not dif­fer de­pen­ding on anxie­ty le­vel, in­dica­ting that high anxie­ty is not a bar­rier for on­li­ne in­ter­ven­tions, at least when the amount of sup­port is mo­de­ra­te. Whi­le more re­search is war­ran­ted, the man­da­te from stu­dents for ma­king sup­por­ted on­li­ne in­ter­ven­tions more wi­de­ly avai­lable is strong. 

3) (FI) Ilk­ka, J. & Leh­to­nen, H. (2021). Opis­ke­li­joi­den ar­vo­työs­ken­te­lyn yh­teys hy­vin­voin­tiin ja psyyk­ki­siin oi­rei­siin hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan poh­jau­tu­van verk­koin­ter­ven­tion ai­ka­na. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/76972?show=full

4) (FI) Mu­ho­nen, M. & Pe­so­nen, K. (2019). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pia poh­jai­sen ryh­mäin­ter­ven­tion vai­kut­ta­vuus opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­tiin. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/65010#

5) (FI) Heik­ki­lä, A. & Ollgren, J. (2019). Em­bo­died ACT: Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan ja ke­hol­li­siin läs­nä­olo­har­joi­tuk­siin pe­rus­tu­va ryh­mäin­ter­ven­tio yli­opis­to-opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin tu­ke­mi­ses­sa. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

6) (FI) Mäen­pää, M. & Pel­to­la, K. (2018). Psy­ko­lo­gi­sen jous­ta­mat­to­muu­den, tie­toi­suus­tai­to­jen ja teh­ty­jen sa­na­va­lin­to­jen yh­teys opis­ke­li­joi­den ko­ke­maan stres­siin ja sen muu­tok­siin verk­ko­vä­lit­tei­sen hy­vin­voin­tioh­jel­man ai­ka­na. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/58600

7) (FI) Her­ra­la, A. & Luo­ma, H. (2017). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan poh­jau­tu­va verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joil­le: psy­ko­lo­gi­sen jous­ta­vuu­den kas­vun mer­ki­tys ja vai­ku­tuk­set hy­vin­voin­tiin sekä yh­tey­det opit­tui­hin tai­toi­hin ja muu­tos­ko­ke­muk­siin. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/54697

8) (FI) Ahl­fors, E. & Sir­kiä, L. (2016). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan pe­rus­tu­va tuet­tu verk­koin­ter­ven­tio hy­vin­voin­nin edis­tä­mi­sek­si yli­opis­to-opis­ke­li­joil­la: Oh­jel­maan käy­te­tyn ajan yh­teys hoi­to­tu­lok­seen. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to. https://jyx.jyu.fi/hand­le/123456789/51287

9) (FI) Tuo­vi­nen, E. (2016). Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­si: käy­tet­tä­vyy­den ja käyt­tö­ko­ke­muk­sen pa­ran­ta­mi­nen. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Tie­to­jär­jes­tel­mä­tie­de. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

10) (FI) Jär­vi­sa­lo, S. (2015). Ef­fec­ti­ve­ness of in­ter­net-de­li­ve­red the­ra­pist sup­por­ted accep­tance and com­mit­ment the­ra­py in­ter­ven­tion in the treat­ment of depres­sion, anxie­ty and stress on uni­ver­si­ty stu­dents. Pro gra­du -tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.   

Bac­he­lor's the­ses

To­tal 11 Bac­he­lor's the­ses in Fin­nish (up­da­ted 8/2022)

1) (FI) Kois­ti­nen, J. (2020). Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­sin vai­ku­tus kor­kea­kou­luo­pis­ke­li­joi­den koet­tuun ma­sen­nuk­seen. Opin­näy­te­työ (AMK). So­si­aa­li- ja ter­vey­sa­la, so­sio­no­mi. Jy­väs­ky­län am­mat­ti­kor­kea­kou­lu. https://www.the­seus.fi/hand­le/10024/338261 / Trans­la­tion: Stu­dents Com­pass’s ef­fec­ti­ve­ness to uni­ver­si­ty stu­dent’s sub­jec­ti­ve depres­sion.

2) Ja­la­va, S (2018). Hy­vin­voin­ti­val­men­ta­ja­na Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­sis­sa : So­si­aa­li- ja ter­vey­sa­lan opis­ke­li­jat di­gi­taa­li­sis­sa in­ter­ven­tiois­sa. So­si­aa­li-, ter­veys- ja lii­kun­ta-ala, sai­raan­hoi­ta­ja (AMK), hoi­to­työn kou­lu­tus­oh­jel­ma. Jy­väs­ky­län am­mat­ti­kor­kea­kou­lu. https://www.the­seus.fi/hand­le/10024/158338

3) Di Bal­do, M. & Kar­ja­lai­nen, L. (2016). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pia­poh­jai­nen verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin tu­ke­mi­seen – Koet­tu­jen on­gel­mien yh­teys psy­ko­lo­gi­seen jous­ta­vuu­teen. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

4) Ara­sa­lo, V. & Peu­ra­la, E. (2016). Hy­vin­voin­ti­val­men­ta­jan pa­laut­teen mer­ki­tys HOT-verk­koin­ter­ven­tios­sa: Sa­tun­nais­tet­tu kont­rol­loi­tu tut­ki­mus. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

5) Tar­sia, S. (2016).  Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pia -poh­jai­nen verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin edis­tä­mi­ses­sä: Pa­laut­teen an­ta­mi­nen ja hy­vin­voin­nin ke­hit­ty­mi­nen. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

7) Finn­holm, A. (2015). Ly­hyen hy­väk­syn­tä- ja ar­vo­poh­jai­sen tue­tun verk­koin­ter­ven­tion vai­kut­ta­vuus opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­tiin. Kan­di­daa­tin­tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

8) Kade, K. & Nie­mi, A. (2015). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pia­poh­jai­nen verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin tu­ke­mi­seen: Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­si –oh­jel­man vai­kut­ta­vuus, syys osal­lis­tua, toi­veet ja ko­ke­muk­set. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

9) Mä­ki­nen, R. & Puus­ti­nen, J. (2014). Opis­ke­li­jan Kom­pas­si Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan pe­rus­tu­va verk­koin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joil­le: Ta­paus­tut­ki­mus verk­ko-in­ter­ven­tios­ta eni­ten hyö­ty­neis­tä koe­hen­ki­löis­tä. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

10) Leh­to­nen, R. (2013). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan pe­rus­tu­va verk­ko­muo­toi­nen ly­hy­tin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin pa­ran­ta­mi­sek­si. Tu­ki­hen­ki­lön mer­ki­tys verk­koin­ter­ven­tios­sa asiak­kaan nä­kö­kul­mas­ta. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

11) Kip­po­nen, T & Kos­ki­nen, K. (2012). Hy­väk­sy­mis- ja omis­tau­tu­mis­te­ra­pi­aan pe­rus­tu­va verk­ko­muo­toi­nen ly­hy­tin­ter­ven­tio opis­ke­li­joi­den hy­vin­voin­nin pa­ran­ta­mi­sek­si – Hoi­to­vas­tee­seen vai­kut­ta­via te­ki­jöi­tä ta­paus­tut­ki­muk­sen kei­noin. Kan­di­daa­tin tut­kiel­ma. Psy­ko­lo­gian lai­tos. Jy­väs­ky­län yli­opis­to.

In­ter­na­tio­nal and na­tio­nal con­fe­rence pre­sen­ta­tions  

2020-2021  No con­fe­rence par­tici­pa­tion due to Co­vid19

2019 

• Räsänen, P., Nyrhinen, R., Tolvanen, A., Lappalainen, R. ‘What kind of online coach support is helpful in reducing psychological distress in a blended Acceptance and Commitment therapy intervention? Results from an RCT study for university students that employed Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) text analysis’. Poster presentation. World Conference of Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, 17-20.7. 2019, Berlin, Germany. 
• Räsänen, P. ‘Counseling university students in innovative ways: The case of The Student Compass, an online-based wellbeing and life-skills program developed and offered to students at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland’ in Feature session: ‘Guidance and Counselling presents: Digitalisation and future trends in guidance and counselling: what’s next?’ Chair: S. Griffiths, King’s College London. 31st Annual European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference and Exhibition, 24-27.9.2019, Helsinki, Finland.
• Räsänen, P., Nyrhinen, R., Tolvanen, A., Lappalainen, R. ‘Coaches’ written online feedback to reduce psychological distress in an ACT-based program for university students: Results from an RCT study that employed A.I. text analysis’. Symposium: Delivering acceptance and mindfulness online for university student mental health: New findings on efficacy and implementation strategies. Chair: M. Levin, Utah State University, Symposium Discussant: Jonathan Bricker, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center & University of Washington. World ACBS Conference, 25.-30.6.2019, Dublin, Ireland. 
• Repo, S., Elovainio, M., Pyörälä, E., Holopainen, M., Räsänen, P., Paunio, T. Comparison of face-to-face and online mindfulness interventions among healthcare professional students in Finland: A randomized controlled trial. Short Communication. Association for Medical Education in Europe Conference, 24-28.8.2019, Vienna, Austria.   
• Hintsa, T., Monni, A. H., Pyörälä, E., Elovainio, M., Repo, S., & Paunio, T. Students in the Medical Faculty: Association between social support, social isolation, perceived stress, functional ability and quality of life. Short Communication: AMEE 2019, 24-28.8.2019, Vienna, Austria.
• Repo, S. Tietoisuustaitojen harjoittaminen vähentää opiskelijoiden stressiä: interventiotutkimus lääketieteellisessä tiedekunnassa.  Terveyspsykologian päivät.
• Repo, S., Iriarte-Lûttjohann, M., & Tuominen, T. (2019). What skills were cultivated during mindfulness intervention among health care university students? – Two approaches to developing well-being skills. Poster presentation. Terveyspsykologian päivät.
  

2018

• Räsänen, P. Tolvanen, A., Lappalainen, R. ‘What is the role of coaches’ written feedback in a blended, ACT-based intervention for enhancing university students’ well-being and reducing psychological distress? Preliminary results from a randomized study’ Symposium: Integrating ACT in University's Well-being Services and Teaching. ACBS Nordic Conference, Copenhagen, 15-17.11.2018, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Mäenpää, M, Peltola, K., Nyrhinen, R, Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. ’Perceived stress and its association to psychological inflexibility, mindfulness, and participants’ word choices analyzed by A.I. in an ACT-based online intervention for university students’ Symposium: Integrating ACT in University's Well-being Services and Teaching. ACBS Nordic Conference, Copenhagen, 15-17.11.2018, Copenhagen, Denmark.

2012-2017

• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. (2017). Mindfulness as a mediator of change in wellbeing and psychological symptoms? Results from a guided, online ACT-based program for university students. Symposium: Understanding processes of change responsible for successful outcomes in brief ACT interventions. ACBS World Conference, Seville, Spain 17-20.06.2017
• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. (2016). Mindfulness as a mediator of change in wellbeing and psychological symptoms? Results from a guided, online ACT-based program for university students. Symposium: Understanding processes of change responsible for successful outcomes in brief ACT interventions. ACBS World Conference, Seville, Spain 17- 20.06.2017
• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. (2016). Mindfulness skills as mediators of change in wellbeing and psychological symptoms? Results from a guided, online ACT-based program for university students. Symposium: ACTing with technology. ACBS Nordic Conference, Denmark, Copenhagen, 16.11-19.11.2017
• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. (2016). Non-reactivity as a mediator of change in wellbeing and psychological symptoms: Results from a guided online ACT-based program for university students. Symposium: Investigating the effects and processes of brief ACT interventions with different populations, ACBS World Conference, Seattle, U.S.A. June 16-19, 2016
• Räsänen, P. (2015) Internet-based guided self-help ACT intervention for enhancing the psychological well-being of university students: Results from a 1-year follow-up assessment. Symposium: Acceptance and values-based approaches for youth and young adults. ACBS Conference, Berlin, Germany, 15-18.07.2015.
• Räsänen, P. (2014). Online acceptance- and value-based brief interventions for wellbeing: Results and experiences. Internet-based guided self-help ACT intervention for enhancing the psychological well-being of university students: A randomized controlled clinical trial. ACBS Conference, Minnesota, U.S.A., 17-22.07.2014. Symposium.
• Räsänen, P., Lappalainen, R. (2013). The Student Compass – An ACT web-based psychological intervention for university students: pilot study results. Finnish Psychotherapy research – Conference, Jyväskylä, 14.–15.2.2013. Symposium.
• Lappalainen, P., Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, R. (2012). An ACT-based Internet Intervention designed for University Students. The 42nd Annual Congress of European Associations for Behavioural & Cognitive Therapies, Geneva, 30.8.-1.9.2012. Symposium.
• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, P. & Lappalainen, R. The Acceptability and Effectiveness of an ACT-based Self-Help Online Intervention for University Students. Nordic ACBS Forum, Stockholm, Sweden, 6.-8.11.2012. Symposium.
• Räsänen, P. & Lappalainen, P. (2012). The Acceptability and Effectiveness of an ACT-based Self- Help Online Intervention for University Students. Association for Contextual Behavioural Science, Annual World Conference X, Washington D.C. USA, 22.-25.7.2012. Symposium.