Abstract
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been proposed as an intervention for reducing burnout and enhancing psychological well-being among healthcare and mental health professionals, but the consistency and quality of the supporting evidence have not been systematically evaluated across this combined population. This systematic review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness of ACT-based interventions for burnout and psychological well-being, and secondarily for stress, depression, anxiety, and psychological flexibility, among healthcare and mental health professionals. Following predefined eligibility criteria, 11 studies (N = 823 participants) conducted across eight countries were included: seven randomised controlled trials, one non-randomised quasi-experimental study, and three single-arm pre-post studies. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool, the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Interventions tool, and the National Institutes of Health Before-After tool, as appropriate to each design. Given substantial heterogeneity in intervention delivery, comparator conditions, and outcome instrumentation, findings were synthesised narratively following Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guidance; no meta-analysis was performed. Findings on stress and depression were more consistently favourable than findings on burnout and psychological well-being, which showed a mixed pattern across studies, including one direct comparison that did not favour ACT on burnout. No included study was rated at low overall risk of bias, and four studies could not be verified against their full-text primary source. These findings provide limited evidence supporting the use of ACT for reducing general psychological distress among healthcare and mental health professionals, while evidence for burnout remains inconsistent. Higher-quality, more rigorously reported primary research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn about ACT's specific effect on occupational burnout in this population.