Resilienz- vs. problemorientierte Beratung von Studierenden

Background: Students are increasingly seeking psychological counseling due to stress-related problems or mental disorders. While many interventions focus on alleviating psychopathological symptoms, the Personal Model of Resilience (PRM) provides a way to make use of existing strengths to overcome obstacles. Objective: To compare the PRM with a problem-focused intervention (ABC model) as an active control condition and a waiting control group (WCG) within 6 weeks. Method: In a randomized controlled trial with 57 students (completer), the PRM was compared with an ABC and a WCG. Results: Both intervention groups showed mostly significant improvements or trends in psychopathology, incongruence, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and resilience compared with the WCG. Mean pretest-posttest effect sizes were d = 0.62 (PRM), d = 0.42 (ABC), and d = 0.07 (WCG). Conclusion: The PRM represents an economic and strengths-based alternative to problem-focused counseling for students.