Randomized controlled trial of the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with undergraduate university students

• Published in: Journal of American college health 2017-01, Vol.65 (1), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Houston, J. Brian, First, Jennifer, Spialek, Matthew L., Sorenson, Mary E., Mills-Sandoval, Toby, Lockett, McKenzie, First, Nathan L., Nitiéma, Pascal, Allen, Sandra F., Pfefferbaum, Betty
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Anxiety; Anxiety - etiology; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety-Depression; Clinical trials; Cognitive Therapy - standards; Cognitive Therapy - statistics & numerical data; College students; Colleges & universities; Coping; depression; Depression (Psychology); Depression - etiology; Effect Size; Female; group; hope; Humans; Intervention; Male; Pilot Projects; Pretests Posttests; Program Effectiveness; Psychological Patterns; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Psychometrics - methods; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Randomized Controlled Trials; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Statistical Significance; stress; Students - psychology; Students - statistics & numerical data; Treatment Outcome; Undergraduate Students; Universities - organization & administration; Universities - statistics & numerical data; University students; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0744-8481; 1940-3208
• DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2016.1227826

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students. Participants: College students (aged 18-23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester. Methods: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed. Results. RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students.