BRIEF PSYCHOLOGYCAL INTERVENTION FOR THE PROMOTION OF WAYS TO COPE WITH STRESSORS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

ABSTRACT Enrolling in Higher Education includes various stressors for the student and the literature points to the need for interventions to facilitate adaptation to university. The academic experiences workshop, a brief psychological intervention (8 sessions) based on behavioral analysis, sought to develop repertoires for coping with the stressors present in higher education. Nine nursing students participated after signing consent terms. They provide answers before and after participating in the workshop: 1) the Self-Reporting Questionnaire, Brazilian version, an instrument for screening symptoms related to common mental disorders (CMD); and 2) the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PBS). Initially, 88.9% of participants had symptoms of CMD, and the mean EBEP was 24.97 (SD=1.22). After the intervention, only 22.2% of the students continued to present symptoms of CMD, and the mean EBEP increased to 29.34 (SD=1.17). The implications of this intervention are discussed in view of the challenges faced by School and Educational Psychology in Higher Education.