Helping students cope with adversity: the influence of a web-based intervention on students’ self-efficacy and intentions to use wellness-related resources

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effects of an online wellness intervention on college students’ self-efficacy, intentions to seek help, general resilience and whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) act as a moderating variable. Participants: Three-hundred and eighty-two undergraduate students. Method: Students were assigned to two conditions: treatment or control. The treatment group participated in an online intervention designed to enhance student wellness, the control group did not. Both groups completed an online questionnaire. Results: Students exposed to the intervention reported greater self-efficacy, a higher likelihood to engage in self-help activities and greater intention to use campus resources. Additionally, among students with more ACEs, those who were exposed to the site were more likely to recommend resources. Conclusion: The online intervention presented here may be an effective tool to reduce barriers for students seeking help for mental health and may increase student wellness.

Keywords:

• Health and wellness
• online intervention
• resilience

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Florida State University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.

Notes

* The study employed a quasi-experimental design because freshmen students were required by the university to complete the training module early in the fall semester. Additionally, we did not have access to freshmen students’ e-mail addresses or other contact information with which to recruit them for a pretest before (or after) they arrived on campus. Accordingly, it was not possible to administer a pretest. While not ideal, quasi-experimental designs are often considered acceptable in such situations as long as the researchers can reasonably demonstrate equivalence of treatment and control groups.⁴⁷