Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of a brief stress management intervention on depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and aggression among Korean male college students.
Design and Methods:In a repeated measures design, participants were assessed before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. Data of 40 experimental and 32 control participants were analyzed using linear mixed models.Findings: There were significant time-by-group interaction effects for depression and trait anxiety, but not for state anxiety, suicidal ideation, and aggression.Practice Implications: The intervention has long-term effects for depression and trait anxiety.Future research should involve a randomized controlled trial on a larger scale.
K E Y W O R D Scollege students, mental health, stress management While transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, college students face multiple stressful situations, including adapting to university life, academic overload, constant pressure to succeed, and concerns about the future. 1,2 Out of the stress areas in this period, concerns regarding academic achievement and the future are reported to be the most stressful among Korean college students. 3,33 Korean adolescents experience intense pressure to perform well at school and gain admission into a good university; after entering college, they encounter excessive competition on campus due to the high youth unemployment rate in Korea. 4 High levels of stress are significantly associated with emotional and behavioral problems among college students, including depression, 1 aggression, 5 and alcohol consumption. 3 Additionally, academic stress has been associated with anxiety 6 and suicidal ideation. 7 However, not enough appropriate programs are available to support their mental health. 7 Previous studies have reported gender differences in stress responses and management. In a study of cortisol responses to stress conditions, it was found that men were more physiologically reactive to achievement-related stressors, whereas women were more reactive to social stressors. 8 Taylor et al. 9 suggested that stress responses are characterized by "fight-or-flight" in men and "tend-and-befriend" in women, that is, while men either confront or avoid the stressful situation, women protect themselves by forming social networks.Considering the gender differences in stress, coping, and illness among college students, stress interventions based on gender are required. 10 During group psychotherapy, homogeneous groups report higher cohesiveness and greater satisfaction with the treatment compared with heterogeneous groups. 11 Although reports suggest that women are more aware of the influence of stress on mental health and importance of stress management compared with men, 12 few studies have exclusively focused on male college students. 13 The present study attempts to fill this gap.The conceptual framework for this study was based on the transactional model of stress and coping, 14 which is a framework for evaluating proce...