Study Design and Participants
depression, Anxiety, anxiety
DISORDER, RECRUITMENT
This study was a fully decentralized, 2-arm, randomized, controlled trial with 1:1 allocation. The participants were divided into a web- and mobile-based ACT intervention group and a waiting control group. The research protocol was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200059218). Nurses were recruited across China between April and August 2022 through advertisements and posters.The inclusion criteria were as follows: the participants must (1) be aged ≥18 years, (2) have a college degree or higher, (3) hold a nurse practice certificate issued by the state, (4) have a Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale score of ≥5 or Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score of ≥5 (to identify nurses with mild or greater anxiety or depression symptoms for the intervention purpose), (5) not be undergoing any other psychological treatment or intervention in the past 6 months, (6) be able to use smartphones and WeChat, and (7) possess good reading and comprehension skills.The exclusion criteria were (1) nurses who were not on duty due to sick leave, maternity leave, or sabbatical leave during the recruitment period; (2) those who were undergoing advanced training or practice; (3) nurses who were at risk of suicide, defined as a score of ≥2 on the suicidal ideation item of the PHQ-9; and (4) nurses who had previously completed a mindfulness or ACT course.