Author: Roselynn J. Garcia-AlmontePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : College students
Languages : en
Pages : 11
Book Description
Earning a professional degree can be a gratifying experience, but it also can be a phase of apprehension and stress, as students are faced with personal, work, and academic challenges that involve demands on their selves, time, relationships, and finances. Students' wellbeing is a growing concern for mental health professionals and educators. Thus, the following prevention program design called the MeFirst Program was created to educate graduate students about stress and the stress reduction effects of specific coping mechanisms, such as self-efficacy, physical exercise, and social support. The target population consists of graduate students enrolled in master's and doctoral psychology degree program. This program will also discuss factors (e.g. multiple demanding roles) that place graduate students, a relatively unexplored population, at a higher risk of developing significant stress. The program will also provide support and resources for graduate students to help reduce stress. Valid and reliable assessment tools will be used at the beginning and ending of the program to evaluate its effectiveness- Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), a modified version of Bandura's Self-Efficacy Scale and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ). It is expected that psychology graduate students in the MeFirst program will be able to increase social support, exercise, and efficacy and reduce their stress levels. In addition, future improvements to the program will be discussed. The strengths and limitations of the proposed program and future plans for the growth of the program will be discussed.