Curriculum-based yoga and acceptance and commitment training intervention for undergraduate students: A mixed-methods investigation

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Highlights

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    Examined the effects of yoga/movement and ACT in a college classroom-based workshop.

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    Psychological inflexibility decreased from post-workshop to follow-up.

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    Intervention groups reported mindfulness and yoga as the most helpful components.

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    Intervention groups reported high levels of receptivity to the workshops.

Abstract

Behavioral health difficulties are prevalent for college students globally. Curriculum-based workshops are gaining support as one means of supplementing college counseling services. Further, there is little research on the use of yoga for college populations. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of a curriculum-based intervention using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and yoga on psychological flexibility and distress over time (pre- and post-workshop and 4-week follow-up). Another aim was to assess receptivity towards and helpfulness of a curriculum-based ACT workshop. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: ACT plus yoga intervention, ACT-only intervention, and a teaching-as-usual control group. It was hypothesized that college students would demonstrate lower levels of psychological inflexibility and psychological distress over time following the ACT plus yoga workshop compared to the two other groups. Results (N = 237) indicated significant differences between intervention groups with changes in psychological inflexibility from post-workshop to follow-up. Those in the ACT plus yoga group demonstrated higher psychological inflexibility immediately following the workshop, and these scores decreased at follow-up. Additionally, from post-workshop to follow-up, all three groups decreased in psychological inflexibility. There were no significant differences between intervention groups in changes in psychological distress. In analyzing the qualitative data, both intervention groups reported that the most helpful component was mindfulness. In the ACT plus yoga group, the second most helpful component reported was yoga. Implications for using movement-based ACT interventions and curriculum-based interventions are discussed.

Section snippets

College student psychopathology

Behavioral health difficulties are a prevalent issue in college-aged individuals, with almost 50% having a psychiatric disorder (Blanco et al., 2008). Large national survey studies in Australia and the Netherlands estimated that 27% and 35%, respectively, of young people between 18 and 30 years reported having mental health difficulties (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1997; Vanheusden et al., 2009). In South Africa, in a large sample of university students (N = 1337), 24.46% reported suicidal

Interventions for college students

Treatment for psychopathology in the college setting has traditionally been through college counseling centers. Counseling centers are on campus and free of cost for students, making them in some ways an ideal choice. However, there are also limitations with regard to this setting. The Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (Reetz, Krylowicz, Bershad, Lawrence, & Mistler, 2016) recently reported that across 571 counseling centers throughout the world, the first

Yoga-based interventions

One approach that has been supported for those with psychological difficulties is yoga. Hatha yoga has become more popular in Western practices, and typically consists of three elements: (1) asana (postures); (2) pranayama (breathing exercises); and (3) meditation (Riley, 2004). Yoga practice involves being present to one's mind and body through movements and accepting emotions and sensations as they are, in each unfolding moment. Further, the practice of yoga has been shown to contribute to

Yoga for college students within a curriculum-based workshop

Yoga and acceptance-based interventions have been applied effectively within a college setting (Barrasso-Catanzaro, 2015; Danitz et al., 2016; Eustis et al., 2017; Falsafi, 2016; Nemati, 2013; Pistorello, 2013). However, little research examines the effects of yoga in the context of curriculum-based workshops. Incorporating movement may enhance interventions for those who need additional ways to contact the present moment and increase willingness to more fully experience bodily sensations.

Participants

An a priori power analysis indicated that a total sample size of 85 participants was required for the present study, assuming a medium effect size (f2 = 0.25), a power level of 0.80, and an alpha level of 0.05. Students in several undergraduate psychology classes at a large public university in the northeastern United States were invited to participate in the research study during the fall semester of 2017 and spring semester of 2018. Data from a total sample of 276, ages 18–52, participants

Procedure

Institutional Review Board approval for the study was obtained before data collection commenced. Each intervention was co-led by two doctoral students, each with one to three years of doctoral-level training in ACT through their graduate program. The leaders of the ACT plus yoga workshops were certified yoga teachers (RYT-200 hour) in addition to having the training in ACT.

Intervention participants experienced a one-session intervention (approximately 1.5 hour) in their classroom during class

ACT-only intervention

The ACT-only intervention consisted of a curriculum-based workshop that involved exercises designed to increase psychological flexibility. The workshop began with an exercise that fosters exploring and clarifying values. Students were asked to practice engaging in values-consistent behavior in class and to notice the obstacles that get in the way. The workshop then focused on how often students (and people in general) may be on “automatic pilot” in daily life activities and how this takes us

Statistical analyses and assumption testing

Statistical analyses were run using IBM SPSS version 21 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Histograms were created and descriptive analyses were conducted for demographic variables and outcome measures (AAQ-II, DASS-21) to assess whether assumptions were met. Data on several variables (i.e., AAQ-II, DASS-21) presented as positively skewed. Given that several data transformations (i.e., log, square root, and reciprocal) did not help, and the sample size was relatively large, the decision was made to

Discussion

The current study aimed to examine the effects of a curriculum-based intervention that utilized ACT and yoga to increase college students’ psychological flexibility and decrease psychological distress. There were significant differences in psychological flexibility over time (Hypothesis 1), however there were no significant differences in psychological distress over time (Hypothesis 2). Due to low levels of reported psychological distress across the groups, there was little variability to

Conclusion

The current study provides a foundation for future work in the area of yoga-based practices and curriculum-based workshops. It adds to a growing body of literature on the viability of incorporating interventions into college curricula. In the current study, there were no changes in reported distress, yet psychological inflexibility decreased from pre-treatment to follow-up in both intervention groups. Furthermore, both the ACT only and ACT plus yoga workshop participants reported high

Declaration of competing interest

The only conflict of interest is that Dr. Emily Sandoz was a reader for this dissertation and an editor of JCBS.

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