A self-guided online stress course helped adults put things off less
Who it’s about: Adults
- Helped
People on a short online stress course put things off less than the waiting group; the drop lasted six months.
- Action: Practise mindfulnesstested
- Action: Learn how the problem workstested
- Rule: Through an online programmeused
Randomised trial of 259 adults in Norway found through Facebook · vs people still waiting for the course · they rated themselves · ⚠ many people dropped out; numbers unreliable
The study
Who took part
259 adults in Norway who signed up through Facebook. They were about 32 on average and about three in four were women. They were not chosen for putting things off.
What they did
One group got 13 short online sessions over 4 weeks, about 10 minutes each, with no human contact. The sessions taught about stress, mindfulness, time planning with to-do lists and goals, and two sessions were about putting things off. The other group got nothing until the study ended.
What happened
The course group said they put things off less, and this lasted to six months later. Only about 4 in 10 finished all 13 sessions, and about half of all people stopped answering the questions. The paper's results table is scrambled, so we can't give sizes.
Source
Multilevel Growth Curve Analyses of Treatment Effects of a Web-Based Intervention for Stress Reduction: Randomized Controlled Trial (2013)
DOI: 10.2196/jmir.2570 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action4
Learn how the problem worksPsychoeducation about procrastination, habits, sleep, routines or ADHD.
