Enhancing college students well-being: The psycho-spiritual well-being intervention

ABSTRACT

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a fourteen-module video-recorded well-being intervention that incorporates relevant videos of Indian spiritual leaders and motivational speakers and adopts an edutainment approach. Its efficacy was examined through a web-based (n = 42), and two classroom-based-studies (n = 308; n = 112) in a sample of Indian undergraduate students. These studies assessed pre-post differences in positive (general well-being, mental well-being, thriving, peace of mind, harmony in life, resilience, and sat-chit-ananda) and negative indicators of well-being (depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms). A significant improvement was noted in four well-being indicators in all the three studies, namely mental well-being (d = 0.46–0.53), general well-being (d = 0.39–0.41), thriving (d = 0.33–0.41), and peace of mind (d = 0.37–0.47). The participants’ evaluation of the intervention was also analyzed. Overall, the results appear promising and may stimulate further investigations.

KEYWORDS:

• Intervention program
• well-being
• college students
• youth
• India

Acknowledgments

Both the authors express their gratitude to all the college authorities, volunteer teachers, and students, and the participants who made this research possible. The second author is a Senior Research Fellow and acknowledges the UGC for its generous support in sponsoring her doctoral fellowship.

Compliance with ethical standards

All the studies of this research involving human participants were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, its later amendments, and other comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent was obtained from all the participants who were a part of the present research.

Declaration of interest statement

On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Availability of data and material

The data, if required, will be made available on request, for research purposes only.