Browsing by Author "Määttä, Saku"

Given the rise in prevalence of stress, lack of time management skills and prolonged graduations among university students, promoting student’s well-being and study practices has become very important. While psychological flexibility a.k.a. dealing with all kinds of emotions and being present in the moment has proven to increase sense of well-being and lower stress among working adults, it has not been widely explored in the university context. Along with psychological flexibility, organised studying has been found to be an important factor in relation to academic achievement, study progress and well-being among university students. The purpose of this study is to explore development of psychological flexibility and organised studying in relation to stress, well-being and studying. Total of 106 university students took part in a web-based course aimed at promoting university students’ well-being, stress management skills, psychological flexibility and organised studying. Development of the items were measured by self-report questionnaires in the beginning and in the end of the course. Additionally, a learning report (n=86) was conducted by the students at the end of the course where the students reflected on their development regarding general well-being, studying and learning during the course. Student’s scores improved quantitatively across all the measured dimensions during the course. Mean scores on psychological flexibility, organised studying and sense of well-being increased and the scores regarding stress reduced. The results are in line with the qualitative analysis, in which students report that they learned to organise their studying and use skills related to psychological flexibility in various ways in studying context. The results imply that a web-based course which is aimed to improve student’s psychological flexibility and organised studying would also improve the student’s sense of well-being and reduce stress in their studies.