Development and Validation of Single-Session Digital Self-Guided Intervention to Prevent Burnout & Improve Wellness

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.