A MINDFULNESS-BASED INTERVENTION INFORMED BY ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT) FOR PROMOTING PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT TO EMPLOYMENT STRESS AMONG GRADUATING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Graduating from university is a pivotal life transition that exposes students to significant employment-related stressors uncertainty about job availability,perceived competence, financial concerns,and emerging professional identities.This study evaluates an eight-week mindfulness-based intervention informed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) designed to promote psychological adjustment to employment stress among graduating students. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control-group design (N = 160), the intervention combined mindfulness practices, values clarification, acceptance strategies, and behavioral activation tasks to enhance psychological flexibility and employability readiness. Outcome variables included employment stress,mindfulness,psychological flexibility,coping strategies,resilience, academic performance, socioeconomic status, and intervention participation. Analyses employed multiple regression, ANCOVA, and cointegration techniques to assess immediate and sustained effects. Results indicated significant reductions in employment stress and increases in psychological flexibility, mindfulness, resilience, and employment readiness among participants. The findings suggest that a brief, manualized ACT-informed mindfulness program can effectively bolster graduates psychological resources during the transition to work, with implications for university counseling services and employability programs.