The Impact of Wellness Training On Resilience, Depression, And Anxiety In College Age Students

Data suggests that mental health disorders in college students are increasing. University personnel seek to help students better manage their mental health through access to campus counseling centers. Slow enrollment growth has placed pressure on university budgets making it difficult to fully fund counseling centers. Therefore, university personnel seek cost-effective interventions to meet the need. Increasing resilience has shown promise in reducing the overall impact of depression and anxiety. The purpose of the current study was to explore the impact of wellness training on resilience, depression, and anxiety to determine the effectiveness of the intervention in improving resilience and reducing depression and anxiety. The researcher conducted a quasi-experimental, quantitative study using data gathered from 88 participants during a required freshmen course. Data was collected using a survey instrument that included the CD-RISC and DASS 21 for measuring resilience, depression and anxiety, as well as, open-ended questions. Between the pretest and posttest, a treatment group of students participated in wellness training designed to increase resilience and reduce depression and anxiety. The findings revealed that the training had no statistically significant impact on the three variables. Results also indicated that both the treatment and control group participants showed a statistically significant decrease in resilience and statistically significant increase in depression. The findings will provide a foundation for further research aimed at designing interventions to increase resilience thereby improving student wellbeing