This study develops and evaluates a self-guided digital single-session mental health intervention designed to reduce workplace burnout and enhance psychological well-being among employed Canadian adults. Workplace burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy, affects approximately 40% of Canadian employees and leads to increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, and higher disability claims. Traditional mental health supports face barriers including long wait times, stigma, and accessibility issues. Single-Session Interventions (SSIs) offer a practical, cost-effective, and scalable complement to traditional services.
This is a randomized, double-arm, online trial. Participants are recruited via Prolific and randomly assigned (1:1) to either the experimental single-session burnout intervention or an active control condition focused on creative writing. The intervention focuses on its unique delivery of content focused on the evidence-based techniques, such as cognitive reframing, stress management, and behavioural strategies. The active control matches the intervention in length, structure, and user experience but omits the specific therapeutic ingredients.
All procedures are conducted entirely online through Qualtrics. Participants are compensated for their participation. Participants complete three sessions over approximately 30 days:
A baseline survey (about 10 minutes); A program session and immediate follow-up (about 40 minutes); And a 30-day follow-up survey (about 10 minutes).
Outcome measures include burnout (MBI-16), perceived stress (PSS-10), depressive symptoms (PHQ-8), anxiety (GAD-7), general health (GHQ-12), well-being (WHO-5), work engagement (UWES-3), readiness to change, perceived impact, and program feedback/acceptability. Main outcomes are examined using mixed-effects linear regression with a participant-level random intercept to test the group × time interaction across baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up.
19 years of age or older
Currently employed full-time
Reside in Canada
Not currently receiving treatment for a significant physical or mental health condition (e.g., ongoing psychotherapy or psychiatric care)
Being under 19 years of age
Being unemployed, retired, or a student who is not concurrently employed
Residing outside Canada
Currently engaging in significant mental health treatment
Parallel
Single-Session Intervention to Prevent Burnout & Enhance Psychological Wellness
BehavioralThe intervention was developed based on a comprehensive systematic review (Phase 1 of the dissertation) that screened 2,349 records and included 27 final studies examining self-guided digital mental health interventions. The design and content of the current intervention are grounded in the best practices identified through that systematic review. Testimonials serve as the core delivery method for the intervention's "active ingredients." The systematic review showed that testimonials communicate information through narrative, enhance engagement and memory retention, leverage mechanisms such as mirror-neuron activation, reduce resistance, and promote behavioural activation. Each testimonial is purposefully designed to deliver specific therapeutic content, including cognitive reframing strategies to manage workplace stress, behavioural techniques for setting boundaries, and self-care practices for daily work routines.
Creative Writing
BehavioralA matched-length, structurally parallel module focused on creative writing. Matches the intervention in layout, pacing, and aesthetic style but intentionally omits therapeutic ingredients.
Burnout - Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-16)
The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) is a 16-item self-report measure of occupational burnout, comprising three subscales: Exhaustion (5 items), Cynicism (5 items), and Professional Efficacy (6 items). Each item is rated on a 7-point frequency scale ranging from 1 ("never") to 7 ("every day"). Subscale scores are calculated as the sum of items within each subscale. Possible ranges are: Exhaustion 5-35, Cynicism 5-35, and Professional Efficacy 6-42. Higher scores on the Exhaustion and Cynicism subscales indicate greater burnout (worse outcome). Higher scores on the Professional Efficacy subscale indicate greater perceived effectiveness (better outcome).
Perceived Stress - Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)
The Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10; Cohen, Kamarck, \& Mermelstein, 1983) is a 10-item self-report measure of the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from 0 ("never") to 5 ("very often"). Four positively-worded items are reverse-scored prior to summation. Total scores range from 0 to 50. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress (worse outcome).
Depressive Symptoms - Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8)
The Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8; Kroenke et al., 2009) is an 8-item self-report measure of depressive symptom severity over the past two weeks. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). The total score is the sum of all items. Total scores range from 0 to 24. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptom severity (worse outcome).
Anxiety - Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7)
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, \& Löwe, 2006) is a 7-item self-report measure of anxiety symptom severity over the past two weeks. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). The total score is the sum of all items. Total scores range from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater anxiety symptom severity (worse outcome).
Readiness to Change (3-item) Adapted from Motivational Interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2013)
This measure consists of three single-item "readiness rulers" adapted from the Motivational Interviewing framework (Miller \& Rollnick, 2013). Each ruler asks participants to rate, on a 10-point numeric rating scale from 1 to 10, one of the following dimensions of motivation to improve their well-being: 1. Importance - "At this moment, how important is working towards improving your well-being?" anchored from 1 ("not important") to 10 ("very important"). 2. Readiness - "How ready are you to work towards improving your well-being?" anchored from 1 ("not ready") to 10 ("completely ready"). 3. Confidence - "How confident are you in your ability to work towards improving your well-being?" anchored from 1 ("not confident") to 10 ("completely confident"). A composite score is computed as the sum of the three items, ranging from 3 to 30. Higher scores indicate greater readiness to engage in well-being improvement efforts (better outcome).
Program Feedback/Acceptability (7-item) Measured by an Adapted Version of the Program Feedback Scale (PFS; Schleider, Dobias, Sung, & Mullarkey, 2020)
The Program Feedback Scale (PFS) is a brief self-report measure of program acceptability developed for use with single-session digital interventions. The version administered in this study contains seven agreement-format items rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). Items include, for example, "I enjoyed the program," "This program was easy to use," "I would recommend this program to a friend going through a hard time," and "I agree with the program's message."The primary acceptability score is the sum of the seven Likert items, ranging from 7 to 35. Higher scores indicate greater program acceptability (better outcome).
Perceived Impact (3-item) Measured by Three Investigator-Developed Anchor-Based Items (Anvari & Lakens, 2021)
This measure consists of three investigator-developed items based on the anchor-based methodology described by Anvari and Lakens (2021), used to capture participants' subjective perception of immediate change following the intervention. Each item asks the participant to rate themselves "compared to before this activity" on a 7-point Likert scale anchored at 1 ("Much Less") and 7 ("Much More"), with the midpoint (4) representing "about the same." The three items assess perceived change in: (1) confidence in one's ability to manage one's well-being; (2) hopefulness; and (3) confidence in one's ability to solve the problems one is currently facing. A total score is computed as the sum of the three items, ranging from 3 to 21. Higher scores indicate a greater perceived positive impact of the intervention (better outcome).
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