Resilience Skills Research Articles

The Mediating Role of Emotional Stability and Social Skills in Psychological Resilience Following Emotional Trauma

Emotional trauma can have a profound impact on an individual’s psychological well-being, leading to various adverse outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, not all individuals respond to trauma in the same way, with some exhibiting remarkable resilience. This paper explores the mediating roles of emotional stability and social skills in fostering psychological resilience following emotional trauma. Emotional stability enables individuals to regulate their emotions, maintain composure, and utilize adaptive coping strategies in the face of adversity. Social skills facilitate the development of supportive relationships that provide essential emotional and practical assistance. Together, these attributes create a synergistic effect that enhances resilience, allowing individuals to navigate challenges and recover from emotional trauma effectively. By examining the interplay between emotional stability and social skills, this paper underscores the importance of integrated interventions aimed at strengthening these traits to promote psychological resilience. The findings suggest that cultivating emotional stability and social skills can significantly improve individuals’ ability to cope with trauma and lead fulfilling lives despite adversity.

Enhancing Engineering Students Understanding of Entrepreneurship with Hands-On Selling and Buying: Implementation and Benefits

This paper introduces the idea of enhancing engineering students’ understanding of entrepreneurship through hands-on selling and buying activities. It also explores the impact of incorporating the activity among engineering students. We designed the activity to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, acknowledging the importance of entrepreneurial skills for engineering students. The study demonstrates that this experiential learning approach equips students with essential skills in sales, marketing, problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and resilience. Additionally, it fosters creativity and innovation while providing a sense of accomplishment. The findings suggest that such practical engagements significantly contribute to preparing engineering students for the challenges of the business world, promoting their versatility and adaptability in professional settings.

The Role of Resilience in Fostering Late Adolescents’ Meaning-Making Process: A Latent Profile Analysis

The study presents an application of Latent Profile Analysis to sustain the existence of different profiles of meaning-making (i.e., the process of searching and finding meaning in life) within the late adolescent’s population, and to investigate the role of resilience in predicting profiles’ belonginess. 943 Italian senior high-school students (52% females) were clustered into two adaptive profiles, highly-engaged (high presence, average search) and balanced (average presence and search), and two maladaptive profiles, frustrated (average presence, high search) and disengaged (low presence and search). A multinomial logistic regression revealed that adolescents with robust resilience skills were more likely to show adaptive profiles, and less likely to fall into the disengaged group, suggesting that individuals with higher resilience are more prone to engage in search for meaning even when they perceive a lack of presence of meaning. Findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of meaning-making, calling the development of personalized interventions to foster adolescents’ ability to navigate life challenges during their transition toward adulthood.

Thriving through trials and tribulations: the impact of the ‘Grand Challenge’ on engineering student resilience skills

ABSTRACT Resilience is considered of significant importance for student attainment and work-readiness. This study investigated the impact of Grand Challenge (GC) – an industry-based learning assessment for 1st and 2nd year Engineering students – on student resilience. Resilience scores and psychological distress were measured before and after the GC through questionnaires presented to students. Focus groups were conducted to assess GC’s effect on student resilience qualitatively. Resilience scores in the questionnaires decreased slightly after GC, possibly due to less students completing the post-GC questionnaire. Interestingly, when discussing GC in the focus groups, students did feel GC helped them develop their resilience and understood the impact of resilience on their future career. Overall, the findings help establish GC as a challenge-based learning (CBL) intervention and the extent to which such CBL assessments may affect student resilience skills. The study provides the groundwork for future resilience training and assessment in higher engineering education through CBL events.

Optimizing Soldier Counseling: Multi-Source, Mixed-Method Evaluation of a Developmental Counseling Training for Mid-Grade Level Leaders.

In accordance with ADP 6-22-001 and ATP 6-22.1, counseling is the process routinely executed by Army leaders to develop, mentor, and coach subordinate Soldiers and Army civilians within their organization. When implemented effectively, the counseling process can be utilized to produce capable, resilient, and satisfied subordinates who are prepared and motivated to meet mission-essential responsibilities. Training opportunities that specifically focus on optimizing this key leader competence, particularly with non-commissioned officers, are limited. The Directorate of Prevention, Resilience and Readiness (Headquarters, Department of the Army, G-9) offers a specific training, the Counseling Enhancement Workshop, and requested an evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the current training and identify opportunities for improvement. A longitudinal 360-degree approach was deployed as a common multisource methodology intended to produce triangulated feedback from participants, as well as their subordinates and supervisors. Quantitative surveys and qualitative structured interviews were conducted. Performance psychology professional facilitators who train this workshop were also administered a questionnaire to capture instructional feedback. Measures include a knowledge assessment of the workshop content, Counseling Self-Efficacy Survey, as well as original measures related to the workshop experience. Completed written developmental counseling forms and observations from the evaluation team were also reviewed to ensure fidelity of the training implementation and delivery. The current study reports on survey responses from participants and facilitators. Results suggested a strong and positive correlation between the pre- and post-workshop Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale. Because of a small sample size, data were analyzed as planned but interpreted with caution because of limited validity. There was a significant increase between the pre- and post-tests knowledge comprehension test scores. Facilitators reported confidence in teaching resilience skills, but not coaching Soldiers to apply those skills as part of the developmental counseling process. The Army counseling process can be utilized to produce capable, resilient, and satisfied subordinates who are prepared and motivated to meet mission-essential responsibilities. Quantitative results on the content of the CEW present opportunities for meaningful training that increases leaders' confidence in delivering counseling sessions, as well as mastering specific skills that benefit the subordinate Soldier and improve unit health. Furthermore, performance psychology professionals provided feedback on focus areas to meet the instructional objective of the training more efficiently and effectively. Ultimately, the counseling process is considered the most important tool available to current leaders to build the capacity of future leaders and an investment in the training to enhance these skills will provide great returns to the U.S. Army as a whole.

Improving Self-Regulation: Resiliency Skills in the Classroom.

The impact of daily living often results in unimaginable stress for children, which can be exhibited as lack of self-control. Children with decreased self-regulation are often not successful in school. Many schools do not have the resources needed to employ professionals who could provide programs to improve self-regulation. Creative programs that can be implemented into the classroom without disrupting the school day are needed. The current article describes a resiliency program that was implemented in a school setting to increase self-regulation. This pilot project used descriptive statistics to analyze the feasibility of incorporating resiliency skills into an elementary school curriculum and the resulting impact on self-regulation among school-aged children. Improvements were identified in self-esteem, compassion, and classroom behavior. Implementing resiliency skills into the curriculum can result in positive outcomes by improving self-regulation in school-aged children. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, xx(xx), xx-xx.].

Exploring the Impact of Metaphors on Resilience in Art Therapy Using Mixed Methods

ABSTRACT The use of metaphors in art making for individuals experiencing chronic stress or trauma can enhance their psychological resilience. This study explored the therapeutic value of metaphors in improving resilience among distressed individuals in art therapy using mixed methods. Six female university students with a history of highly stressful or traumatic events participated in a two-week online painting program, creating either metaphorical or non-metaphorical paintings. Pre and post-treatment questionnaires assessed resilience factors, including global resilience, self-awareness, self-efficacy, and communication skills. Post-treatment interviews were conducted to explore subjective changes in resilience. The interviews revealed several themes, including greater affect recognition, acceptance of life circumstances, and a more remarkable ability to redefine their lives. Although questionnaire scores showed no significant increases in resilience during the intervention, the results suggest that metaphors can facilitate resilience-building mechanisms in art therapy.

Promoting Resilience in Stress Management for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires demanding self-management health behaviors, and adolescents with T1D are at risk for poor psychosocial and medical outcomes. Developing resilience skills may help adolescents with T1D and elevated distress navigate common stressors and achieve positive outcomes. To test the efficacy of the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) intervention on levels of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), diabetes distress, self-management behaviors, resilience, and quality of life among adolescents. This phase 3, parallel, 1:1 randomized clinical trial that followed up 172 participants for 12 months was conducted from January 1, 2020, to November 30, 2022, at each of 2 children's hospitals, in Seattle, Washington, and Houston, Texas. Participants were ages 13 to 18 years with T1D for at least 12 months and elevated diabetes distress. PRISM, a manualized, skills-based, individual intervention program that teaches stress management, goal setting, reframing, and meaning-making, facilitated by a coach and accompanied by a digital app, was delivered in three 30- to 60-minute sessions approximately 2 weeks apart. The 2 primary outcomes, diabetes distress and HbA1c levels, and 3 secondary outcomes, resilience, quality of life, and engagement in self-management behaviors, were assessed at baseline and 6 and 12 months after baseline. Linear mixed-effects regression models were used to evaluate associations between PRISM or usual care (UC) and these outcomes at both time points for the intention-to-treat population. Among 172 adolescents (mean [SD] age, 15.7 [1.6] years), 96 were female (56%), and their baseline mean (SD) HbA1c level was 8.7% (2.0%). No differences were evident between PRISM and UC recipients in HbA1c levels (β, -0.21 [95% CI, -0.65 to 0.22]; P = .33) or diabetes distress (β, -2.71 [95% CI, -6.31 to 0.90]; P = .14) or any participant-reported outcome (eg, β, 2.25 [95% CI, -0.30 to 4.80]; P = .08 for self-management behaviors) at 6 months. At 12 months, there was no statistically significant difference between arms in HbA1c levels (β, -0.26 [95% CI, -0.72 to 0.19]; P = .25); however, PRISM recipients reported significantly greater amelioration of diabetes distress (β, -4.59 [95% CI, -8.25 to -0.94]; P = .01) and improvement in self-management behaviors (β, 3.4 [95% CI, 0.9 to 5.9]; P = .01) compared with UC recipients. The findings in this randomized clinical trial of psychosocial and behavioral improvements associated with PRISM at 12 months illustrate the value of a strengths-based intervention. Integrating resilience skills-building with traditional diabetes care may be a promising approach for improving outcomes among adolescents with T1D and elevated diabetes distress. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT03847194.

Evaluation of a child abuse prevention program for unmarried mothers in South Korea: a single-case experimental design.

The purpose of this study is to apply and evaluate the effectiveness of a child abuse prevention program based on the Nursing Model of Resilience and Coping Skills Training Model for unmarried mothers during pregnancy and puerperium. This study had a prospective single-case, AB design with four repeated self-questionnaire measures and three observational measures. Seven unmarried mothers were provided with 10 sessions child abuse prevention program through individual visits from 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy to 6 weeks after childbirth. The questionnaire was composed related to resilience, maternal stress, maternal attitude, parent-child interaction, child abuse potential. The observation was measured by video recording (total 16 times) the interaction of parent-child during feeding and analyzing it by three experts. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Friedman's test. Maternal attitude and parent-child interaction were statistically significantly improved after intervention compared to before intervention. However, maternal stress decreased after intervention compared to before intervention, but it was not statistically significant. Also, resilience and child abuse potential were not statistically significant. This program is partially effective in preventing child abuse by promoting parenting attitudes and parent-child interactions. This study focused on individual resilience and applied systematic intervention as coping skills training to prevent child abuse. This study is meaningful in that interventions were conducted through individual visits to unmarried mothers at high risk of child abuse, and the program was applied, including pregnancy and postpartum periods, to prevent child abuse early.

Examining the Interplay Between Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Gender-Related Stigmas as Barriers for PrEP Uptake Among Transgender Women in Tijuana, Mexico: A Mixed-Methods Study.

HIV prevalence among transgender women (TW) in Tijuana, Mexico is estimated at 22%. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) reduces the risk of HIV acquisition by > 90%, though uptake in Tijuana has been low due to limited availability. The interplay between PrEP and gender stigmas may also serve as a barrier to PrEP uptake among TW in Tijuana. Experiences of gender- and PrEP- stigmas were assessed quantitatively (Quan) among 110 HIV-negative TW and qualitatively (Qual) among 17 TW through semi-structured interviews guide by the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework. Qual findings were triangulated with Quant data to identify factors that may support gender affirmation and reduce PrEP stigma in an explanatory sequential Quan → Qual fashion. Most participants were < 40 years of age (80%), while approximately half had at least a high school education (48.2%) and were accessing gender-affirming hormone therapy (56.4%). Mean expectations of gender stigma were greatest for endorsing negative future expectations from others (M = 17.69; possible range 0-36). PrEP stigma was prominent among those who associated negative stereotypes with PrEP users, such as poor judgment (M = 45.91; possible range 14-70) and high personal risk attributes (M = 28.61; possible range 12-60). While PrEP knowledge was low among the qualitative sample, participants identified gender-, PrEP-, and intersectional- stigmas as potential barriers to PrEP uptake. Participants suggested that resilience strategies used to combat gender stigma could also mitigate PrEP stigma. Enhancing resilience skills at the intersection of gender and PrEP stigma may reduce these barriers, facilitating greater PrEP uptake as it becomes more available in Mexico.

Assessing the impact of a community-based psychodrama intervention on mental health promotion of adolescents and young adults in Mozambique: A mixed-methods study.

While mental health is an emerging issue in low-income countries, its promotion remains poor, with little context-oriented evidence available. Here we aimed to assess the impact and acceptability/feasibility of a community-based psychodrama intervention involving both adolescents and young adults (AYA) living with HIV (AYALHIV) and without HIV (AYAHIV-). We used a mixed-methods approach, where the quantitative part was based on pre/post questionnaires and the qualitative one on content analysis of semi-structured interviews. Trained community health care workers delivered psychodrama sessions involving AYAs aged 15-24 years once a week between July and August 2023 in Beira, Mozambique. The baseline assessment involved a sociodemographic and three mental health questionnaires: the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), Community Attitudes toward People with Mental Illness (CAMI27), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). We repeated all questionnaires after the intervention and conducted semi-structured interviews. We enrolled 354 AYAs (50.8% female, 45.5% AYALHIV) at baseline; 315 (89.0%) attended the sessions, with a mean participation rate of 94.4%. Overall, 281 (89.2%) completed the post-intervention assessment. MAKS score improved from 44.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 44.0-45.0) to 47.1 (95% CI = 46.4-47.7, P < 0.001). Total CAMI27 score showed no significant variation (P = 0.855). Total TAS score decreased from 57.3 (95% CI = 56.1-58.5) to 54.3 (95% CI = 53.0-55.6, P < 0.001). We found no statistically significant interactions between time and sex, age, or HIV serostatus in all questionnaires. For the qualitative part of the study, we analysed 37 semi-structured interviews (43.2% with females, 40.5% with AYALHIV). We identified four areas of intervention impact: peer-to-peer support (30.3%), social empowerment (24.7%), resilience (23.0%), and emotional skills (21.9%). Regarding acceptability/feasibility, perceived scalability (37.2%) and affective attitude (34.5%) were the sub-areas most frequently retrieved in the SSIs. The community-based psychodrama intervention proved to be an effective tool in AYAs' mental health promotion, increasing knowledge and improving emotional awareness through group experience and interpersonal learning. The intervention also showed good acceptability and feasibility in the context of our study.

The Effect of a Short-Term Mindfulness Program on Motor Skills and on Psychological and Social Behavior in Preschool Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

We assessed the effect of a one-week mindfulness-based intervention on resilience, social behavior, and motor skills in four to five-year-old children. In this randomized controlled trial, 45 children (22 females; 23 males; M age = 4.5, SD = 0.4 years) from the same preschool were randomly assigned to three groups: (a) a mindfulness group (MG; n = 15) that participated in five 30-min mindfulness sessions; (b) a physical activity group (PAG; n = 15) that engaged in five 45-min physical exercise sessions; and a control group (CG; n = 15) that received no intervention. Training sessions were held on five consecutive days. Prior to (T0) and after the five mindfulness sessions (T1), all participants blindly completed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (to assess their motor skills), the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (to evaluate their behavior), and the Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 (to measure their resilience). At baseline (T0), there were no significant differences between the groups. The mindfulness group experienced the strongest positive effects after the intervention (T1), with improvements in both motor skills and social behavior, though there was no significant effect on resilience. Our results suggest that a brief mindfulness training intervention is a promising strategy for improving motor skills and social behavior in early childhood settings.

Exploring of Resilience Skill as Competence on Employee Contextual Performance

Exploring of Resilience Skill as Competence on Employee Contextual Performance

Laboratory success 101: how to excel in your first lab project

The majority of biochemistry research is based on wet laboratory experiments, yet undergraduate degrees strongly focus on the theoretical aspects of this discipline. The first lab project can be a significant learning curve for students, involving challenges in laboratory techniques, research reproducibility, consistency, resilience, and practical skills. Drawing from my experience in two research internships, a master’s project, and completing three rotations in a PhD program, I have outlined here valuable tips and advice to help undergraduates navigate this transition smoothly, enabling them to excel in their first lab project.

Improving Students Wellbeing, Resilience and Employability Skills in Capstone Projects - Highlights of Good Practice

In recent years, there has been a significant shift towards providing comprehensive support to university students for their professional development, transferable skills, and employability. Capstone projects play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between academic learning and practical application, equipping students to navigate the challenges of their future careers (Fung, 2017) . These projects often serve as a reflection of students' growth and development, with successful completion signifying the acquisition of essential skills and knowledge in their chosen field of study. This engineering education practice paper explores the latest developments in engineering capstone project coordination, tutoring, and assessment, with a specific focus on enhancing student wellbeing. These practices aim to equip students with greater resilience, improved employability, and stronger teamwork skills, essential in the dynamic and diverse field of engineering. The intervention showcased here represents a significant enhancement for the 2022-2023 academic year in reinforcing the structure of capstone projects within the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at The University of Sheffield. Initial findings indicate improvements in student wellbeing and interpersonal skills due to well-structured tutoring support and clear module deliverables guidelines.

Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Program to Improve Communication and Stress Coping Skills in University Students.

Investigating the contribution of mindfulness training to psychological well-being and quality of life in the university setting is of interest. The objective of the study is to present a comparative analysis of the scores in the variables of self-efficacy, resilience, coping strategies, and communication skills before and after the application of an intervention program based on mindfulness. An ex post facto cross-sectional design and a convenience sample of participants were adopted. The participants were students belonging to Education Sciences who benefited from the activities of the program. Instruments were administered to assess mindfulness, self-efficacy, resilience, coping strategies, and communication skills. The correlations of the mindfulness variable with the other psychoeducational variables evaluated were also analyzed. The results indicate an increase in the scores in the selected variables of mindfulness, resilience, communication skills, and some of the coping strategies considered productive or functional such as problem solving, self-criticism, emotional expression, desiderative thinking, social support, and cognitive restructuring. Statistically significant correlations were also observed between the variable mindfulness and those of perceived self-efficacy, resilience, coping strategies, and communication skills. The development of mindfulness training programs in the university setting is necessary to contribute to the improvement of more adaptive coping skills and the promotion of resilience.

Highest order moderation of extraversion and neuroticism into the relationship between job stress and flourishing: Mediated by readiness to change among Chinese medical teachers

This study investigates the mediating role of Readiness to Change in the relationship between job stress and flourishing among Chinese medical teachers, as well as the highest order moderation of Extraversion and Neuroticism into this relationship. The research utilized a quantitative approach, surveying a sample of Chinese Medical Education teachers (N = 500) consisted of 342 males and 158 females with an age range between 30 and 65 (M = 43.69; SD = 9.31). The average tenure in the education landscape was 12.39 years (SD = 10.91) through an online platform. The primary aim was to explore how readiness attitudes influence the well-being and work capacity of Teachers in high-stress medical teaching environments. The survey incorporated self-assessment instruments to measure job stress, Readiness to Change attitudes, levels of flourishing, and personality traits (Extraversion and Neuroticism). Statistical analyses, including mediation models, were employed to test the relationships between these variables. Preliminary findings suggest a significant mediating role of Readiness to Change into the effects of job stress on flourishing and a moderation of extraversion into this relationship. The findings also failed to support the moderation of Neuroticism into the relationships, while the Higher order moderation showed a statistical marginal value. This indicates that effective readiness attitudes may not only mitigate the negative impacts of job stress but also enhance personal well-being and professional capacity. These results hold critical implications for the development of support systems and interventions aimed at fostering resilience and adaptive skills among medical teachers. Such initiatives could potentially improve job satisfaction, mental health, and teaching effectiveness in medical education settings. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on occupational stress and coping mechanisms in the educational sector, particularly within the field of medical education.

Natural Language Processing Approaches to Text Data Augmentation: A Computational Linguistic Analysis

In the context of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks, problems such as insufficient or skewed data are frequently encountered. One practical solution to this problem is to generate additional textual data. Text Data Augmentation (TDA) refers to small changes made to accessible text at the character, word, or sentence level to generate synthetic data that is subsequently inserted into data loaders to train the model. By producing synthetic data, models can learn from a larger range of instances and, hence, enhance their resilience and generalization skills. Despite the fact that the entire NLP community has extensively studied many NLP DA approaches, recent research on the subject suggests that the relationship between the several DA techniques now in use is not entirely known in practice. Therefore, this study applies and extends the advances of TDA to encounter and cover varied tools on multiple settings or contexts. To carry out a thorough practical implementation of NLP DA approaches, comparing the way they perform and highlighting some of the significant similarities and differences in these various scenarios, this work depends on different tools of easy data augmentation and neural-based augmentation. This study suggests that some typical DA techniques might not be suitable in some circumstances or text environments. Specifically, according to the initial results, the context and word count of a text may have a significant impact on the quality of the synthetic data.

The Relationship between Resilience, locus of Control, and General Health with the Academic Performance among Students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Improving students' academic performance is related to various factors. Identifying and modifying these factors can improve academic performance. The study investigated the relationship between resilience, locus of control, and general health with students' academic performance. Method: The study is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study consisting of 415 students. Resilience, source of control, and public health were investigated by using standard questionnaires, and the correlation of these scores with the academic performance of the students was evaluated. Results: A comparison of the average scores of resilience, locus of control, and general health with the student's academic status showed that those who had a GPA higher than 16.92 had a higher score of resilience, locus of control, and general health, but it was not reported significant. In comparing the internal and external control dimensions of the source of control, it was shown that people with an external source have a significantly higher grade point average. Also, there is a relationship between the variables of resilience, source of control, and general health with academic performance, and between the variables of source of control and resilience with academic performance. Significant was reported. Conclusion: It is recommended to organize practical education areas and workshops to enhance resilience, general health, and life skills based on the findings of the academic progress study.

Integration of equine assisted services and social-emotional learning: A preliminary evaluation of a life skills training program for at-risk youth

Abstract This study was a preliminary evaluation of a life skills training program conducted by the Equine Partnership Program (EPP) integrating Equine Assisted Services (EAS) with social emotional learning (SEL) competencies. SEL programs aim to foster character development, curb maladaptive behaviors, and enhance social skills in at-risk youth by promoting positive relationships and emotional regulation. Many youth still require more targeted or alternative approaches to effectively nurture these skills. EAS has the potential to enhance SEL through its experiential learning approach and use of horses as a bridge, which is believed to be effective because of the horse’s innate ability to mirror and respond to human emotion. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of EAS on the social–emotional development of at-risk youth as measured by the Depression, Anxiety, Pain, and Stress (DAPS) visual analog tool. It was hypothesized that participants would demonstrate measurable improvements in emotional regulation post intervention. Data were collected before and after the EAS experience from 33 participants. Participants were asked to rate their levels of DAPS ranging from a high of 10 to a low of 1. Using t-test comparisons, statistically significant decreases in scores were found in depression (M = −0.67, p = 0.02), and anxiety (M = −1.18, p &lt; 0.001). Emotional pain and stress also showed decreases, though not statistically significant. This intervention shows promise to serve as an effective modality in addressing resilience and pro-social skills necessary for improved outcomes in behavioral and emotional development, thereby improving future academic, career, and overall life success, including improved social relationships.