Effectiveness of a university counseling intervention based on a psychodynamic approach

Abstract

The study examined the effectiveness of a brief psychodynamic counseling intervention on psychological distress and general life satisfaction in a sample of 124 students by comparing pre- and posttreatment data. The authors also tested the moderating role of pretreatment attachment styles. Results showed that most participants (57%) can be classified as a nonclinical population, whereas only a minority of participants belong to a clinical population (17%) and a subclinical population (26%) according to the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R). Psychodynamic counseling intervention was shown to be associated with a decrease in the Global Severity Index and the anxiety and depression subscales of the SCL-90-R. Clinical effectiveness was greater for participants belonging to the clinical group. General life satisfaction increased significantly for all students. The authors found no moderation effect of attachment styles. Brief psychodynamic counseling intervention was associated with a reduction of psychological distress and an increase in life satisfaction.

Effectiveness of an online versus face-to-face psychodynamic counselling intervention for university students before and during the COVID-19 period

“…A further relevant data emerged is that the quality of the attachment style is not a moderator of the effectiveness of the intervention neither for the face-to-face intervention nor for the online intervention in line with a previous study [ 15 ]. The intervention therefore has an effect in improving mental health both for university students with secure attachment styles and for university students with styles of attachment more at risk such as those insecure.…”

“…The intervention has been conducted at the University of Milano-Bicocca Counselling Service and is open to all students of the campus. It’s a psychodynamic intervention which offers students a brief consultation intervention composed of four meetings, conducted vis-à-vis [ 15 , 34 , 35 ]. The intervention starts with the student referring him/herself for counselling and is free for all students enrolled at the university.…”

“…Considering the importance of mental health interventions aimed to young adult [ 13 ], it is extremely useful to examine whether such online counselling interventions for university students are effective in improving subjective well-being as well as face-to-face counselling interventions do. In fact, counselling has an important role in supporting students with psychological problems, promoting a reduction of psychological distress and an increase in psychological resilience and academic performance [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Psychological distress and attachment styles in emerging adult students attending and not attending a university counselling service

“…The university period, therefore, offers a significant opportunity to tackle mental health issues, also from the perspective of prevention with respect to subsequent life periods (Adamo et al, 2010(Adamo et al, , 2012Riva Crugnola, 2017;Riva Crugnola et al, 2020). Research shows that failure to address mental health issues in emerging adulthood leads to a greater risk of developing serious long-term mental disorders (Carver et al, 2015).…”

Attachment relationships and psychological distress in young adults: The mediating role of self-esteem

“…Although studies have recognised the relationship of secure attachment to reduced psychological distress (e.g Mikulincer and Shaver, 2015;Riva-Crugnola et al, 2020;Umemura et al, 2017), little is known about the underlying mechanism between this relationship, such as through self-esteem (Ein-Dor and Doron, 2015; Lee and Hankin, 2009). Additionally, until now research has only studied primary attachment and not explored this relationship with secondary attachment (Imran et al, 2020a).…”