Resilience among Undergraduate Freshmen during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Development of Resource Promotion Program

Abstract

Undergraduate freshmen are currently encountering numerous difficulties in adapting to college life due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, several studies have underlined the need to develop interventions focused on undergraduate students’ resilience during this situation. We adopted the service design method in identifying the difficulties faced by undergraduate freshmen during this pandemic, and also developed interventions for raising their resilience. The service design method is a person-centered approach which adopts the user’s viewpoint in developing solutions, thereby enabling their requirements to be satisfied. Surveys and in-depth interviews revealed that undergraduate freshmen were experiencing psycho-emotional problems which were derived from schoolwork and college life. This is particularly the case with students who are experiencing greater levels of academic difficulty, and were insufficiently equipped with resources such as stress-coping strategies and social support. Four undergraduate freshmen were recruited online to test the effectiveness of a resource promotion program aimed at enhancing their resilience. This program has proved to be helpful in relieving daily/academic stress and in building relationships among freshmen, regarding which the participants showed a high level of satisfaction. The results were discussed by focusing on psycho-emotional difficulties and resources of college freshmen, as well as the effectiveness of the resource promotion program. Further research is required in order to verify the efficiency of the program and to confirm conclusions.