Effectiveness of a Growth Mindset Counseling Program to Enhance Student Resilience in a Public Autonomous University in Thailand

Authors

  • Nuchnapa Warunwutthi Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University
  • Sittipong Wattananonsakul
  • Chatchai Ekpanyaskul

Keywords:

Resilience, Growth mindset counseling program, Student resilience, Public autonomous university

Abstract

Resilience is one of the protective factors that supports individuals during adversity and recovery. This study was to investigate the effectiveness of the counseling program with a growth mindset focused on psychosocial factors, self-efficacy and social relationships to enhance resilience among university students in an autonomous public university in Bangkok, Thailand. A quasi-experiment study with 46 third-year university students voluntarily enrolled and were then divided into two groups. The 23 students received a six-session online group counseling intervention, which was developed based on the social cognitive approach and a growth mindset to strengthen self-efficacy and person-centered group counseling to encourage social relationships. The control group received general advice. The pretest and posttest resilience assessment were adapted from the Conner and Davison Resilience Scale. It measured self-efficacy via perceived self-competence, emotional reaction, and acceptance of change. In addition, social relationships were measured through social relations with people. A t-test was utilized for resilience scale comparison. The results showed that there were no differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, and pretest scores. The mean scores of the resilience scale in the intervention group had significantly higher resilience scores for post-intervention than pre-intervention. Moreover, during the post-intervention, the intervention group had significantly higher resilience scores than the control group in terms of their total resilience scores, while self-competence, emotional reactions, and the components of acceptance of change had a p-value = 0.008, 0.033, 0.004, and 0.044, respectively. In conclusion, the online counseling program with a growth mindset were effective in enhancing the resilience of university students, particularly self-efficacy. Therefore, university administrators should consider having this counseling program to support the needs of the students.

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Published

2022-06-30