Title: Results of a Psychosocial Intervention Program to Facilitate Adjustment to College
1Results of a Psychosocial Intervention Program to
Facilitate Adjustment to College
- Jean F. Ayers, Jonathan F. Mattanah,
- Leonie J. Brooks, Julie L. Quimby, and
- Bethany L. Brand
- Towson University
2Student Collaborators on the Transition to Towson
Study
- Michael Armstrong Kourtney Murphy
- Stephanie Barr Stephanie Nadeau
- Elizabeth Bierach Amber Norwood
- Laura Bowman Erica Sherry
- Kaitlin Carrozza Emily Stevens
- Melissa Farrell Thomas Theriault
- Pellie Gershovsky Ann Thomas
- Kristen Hood Jodi Trumbull
- Meghan Jancuk Lisa Wanionek
- Amie Kolos
- Chet Meinzer
3College Attendance
- estimated that over 60 of US high school
graduates will attend some form of postsecondary
education (US Census Bureau, 2003) - attrition from college highest in the first year
(Tinto, 1987) - half of those who drop out of college in the
first year drop out in weeks two through six of
the college experience (Levitz Noel, 1989)
4Models of Adjustment
- Stage models adjustment proceeds through a
sequence of predictable stages (e.g., Rubble
Seidman, 1996) - Interacting factors that influence adjustment
(Schlossberg, 1981) - perception of the transition
- characteristics of the pre- and post-transition
environments - characteristics of the individual
-
5Specifics of College Adjustment
- little fish in a big pond phenomenon
- less contact and interaction with faculty than in
high school - physical separation from familial and peer
support groups - exposure to diverse behaviors, values, and
perspectives
6Social Support Theoretical Models
- Buffering theory social support buffers
individuals from the physical and psychological
impact of highly stressful situations. - Enhancement theory positive social
relationships provide multiple benefits even in
the absence of highly stressful events
7Prior Research
- Social support plays a significant role in how
well students adjust to university life in the
first year (Hunsberger,Pancer,Pratt, Alisat,
1994). - students expectations about university life
influenced adjustment throughout their college
years (Jackson et al., 2000) - a group-based intervention focusing on
establishing social support and meeting the
challenges of university life led to better
adjustment, compared to a control group, in the
second and fourth years of college (Pratt et al.,
2000)
8Current hypothesis
- A time limited psychosocial intervention would
facilitate improved adjustment to college on both
subjective and behavioral outcome measures. - We hypothesized positive outcomes despite the
application of the intervention in a more
metropolitan setting and with a more diverse
sample than has been used in prior research.
9Research Design
- randomized, controlled intervention for incoming
college freshmen - peer facilitated semi-structured psychosocial
groups using clinical honor students as
facilitators - repeated measures related broadly to adjustment
at three time points (summer prior to
matriculation, mid-fall, and mid-spring of
freshman year)
10Methodology Sample
- 184 first year college students over two years of
data collection (55 male and 129 female) current
results focus only on the first year of data
collection (N88), which have been analyzed at
this point. - 45 randomly assigned to the intervention group
43 assigned to the control group - mean age of 17.6 years
- 69.1 Caucasian 15.8 African American 5.3
Asian American, and 9.8 other
11Methodology Measures
- Beck Depression Inventory
(Beck, Steer, Garbin, 1988) - UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau,
Cutrona, 1980) - Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona Russell,
1987) - Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire
(Baker Syrik, 1984)
12Methodology Procedure
- Intervention groups met nine times eight times
across the fall semester and once in the spring
semester - control group met once in the fall semester for
an informational session and data collection and
once in the spring semester for data collection
only
13Semi-structured guidelines for intervention groups
- check-in with all group members
- structured task to facilitate the topic for the
meeting - group discussion
- sharing of ideas and skill building
- evaluation of the session
- preparation for the following session
14Sample topics for intervention groups
- maintaining old social ties and developing new
ones - balancing work, academic, and social demands
- peer pressure, values, and college life
- residential issues
- expectations regarding college
15Results
- Present results at three time points
- Summer prior to the intervention
- Fall of the First-Year (mid-way through
intervention) - Spring of the First-Year (at the end of the
intervention)
16Prior to Intervention (Summer)
- No difference between the groups on loneliness or
social support at baseline. - Intervention group was slightly more depressed
(p. .06)
17Fall Semester- Effects on Depression, Loneliness,
Soc. Support
- Groups did not differ in the fall semester in
terms of depression, loneliness, or social
support.
18Fall Semester- Adjustment to Campus
- The groups did not differ in terms of academic,
social, or emotional adjustment to the campus
either.
19Spring Semester Effects on Depression,
Loneliness, Soc. Support
- By end of year, intervention group was less
depressed (p. . 09, Reffect .24), less lonely
(p .03, Reffect .31), and reported greater
social support (p. .05, Reffect .27).
20Spring Semester- Adjustment to Campus
- Intervention group showed better social
adjustment to campus (p. .06, Reffect .28)
but did not differ on academic or emotional
adjustment.
21Conclusions
- Preliminary results confirm that this
intervention is effective for students at a
large, metropolitan university, especially in the
social adjustment realm. - We found evidence for a sleeper effect of the
intervention, consistent with results from Pratt
et al. (2000). Effects of the intervention show
up most clearly by the end and not mid-way
through it. One possible explanation is that
Fall semester is a very disequilibrating time,
when students adjustment is in flux, masking
intervention effects. - Need to examine what moderates the effect
Gender, students expectations regarding
adjustment, etc.