Effects of an internet-delivered behavioral activation program on improving work engagement among Japanese workers: A pre-and post-test study.

Abstract

To examine the effect of a newly developed internet-delivered behavioral activation (iBA) program on work engagement and well-being among Japanese workers with elevated psychological distress. Participants were recruited via an internet survey company (N = 3299). The eligibility criteria were: 1) Japanese employees aged 20-59 years old, 2) having psychological distress, and 3) not self-employed. This iBA program was a 3-week web-based training course using behavioral activation techniques. Work engagement, psychological distress and eudemonic well-being at work were measured at baseline and post-intervention period. A paired sample t-test was conducted to assess the intervention effect. Of the 568 eligible participants, 120 were randomly selected. A total of 108 participants completed the baseline survey and received the iBA program. Eighty respondents completed the post-intervention survey and were included in analyses. The iBA program did not show a significant intervention effect on work engagement (p = 0.22, Cohen's d = 0.14), while psychological distress (p < 0.01, d = -0.40) and role-oriented future prospects (p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.27) were significantly improved. The effect of the iBA program on work engagement may be limited.