Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 19(3), Aug 2025, 190-198; doi:10.1037/tep0000513
Professional psychology training programs would be aided in helping trainees develop self-care competency to support sustainable professional development and mental health (MH) by additional theory-driven research connecting program actions with trainees’ values, behaviors, and MH. This study used an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)–informed framework to examine psychology trainees’ (PTs) and professionals’ (PPs) self-care practices (SCPs) and MH in relation to their values and which SCPs their training programs recommended. It was hypothesized that an effect of greater program SCP recommendation on better MH would be mediated sequentially via specific SCP engagement and the degree that one’s overall SCP engagement supports their top values. Between 2020 and 2021, U.S. and Canadian PTs and PPs (n = 335; 61.5% White; 74.9% heterosexual) completed an online survey assessing aforementioned factors, including measures of stress, depression, anxiety, resilience, SCPs used, and a modified Valued Living Questionnaire that also assessed how much self-care engagement moved respondents toward their top values, based on the ACT Matrix. Consistent with the study’s ACT-informed framework, results indicated that the amount of self-care-related movement toward one’s top values was associated with better MH and, overall, provided support for the hypothesized possible serial mediation. This is the first single study to simultaneously examine how much PTs’ and PPs’ SCP engagement moves them in the direction of their values, how this relates to MH, and whether programs recommending SCP may elicit effects on SCP engagement and MH in cohorts differentiated by training/career stage. Replication with longitudinal designs will be needed to advance beyond study limitations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)