The Implementation of a Blended Counseling Intervention in Undergraduate Engineering Students: The Effect on Mental Health
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Student Mental Health Issues
1.2. Positive Psychology Interventions to Students
1.3. Cognitive Therapy Interventions to Students
1.4. Integration of Cognitive and Positive Psychology Interventions
1.5. The Purpose of the Present Study
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Sample
2.2. Survey Tools
2.3. Ethics
2.4. Procedure
2.5. Design and Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Independent t-Tests Comparing the Intervention Group and the Control Group on Student Satisfaction Questionnaire Items
3.2. Two-Way Repeated-Measures ANOVAs
3.2.1. DASS-21 Depression
- Whole sample
- 2.
- Electrical engineers
- 3.
- Mechanical engineers
- 4.
- Civil engineers
3.2.2. DASS-21 Anxiety
- Whole sample
- 2.
- Electrical engineers
- 3.
- Mechanical engineers
- 4.
- Civil engineers
3.2.3. DASS-21 Stress
- Whole sample
- 2.
- Electrical engineers
- 3.
- Mechanical engineers
- 4.
- Civil engineers
3.3. Independent t-Tests Comparing the Two Experimental Subgroups on DASS-21 Variables
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Session Civil Engineers | Topic | Content | Tasks/Exercises | Homework |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Initial measurement—introduction in positive psychology | Administration of questionnaires, information about the goal of the intervention—aim of the Three Good Things | Three Good Things | Three good things every day in a weekly span |
2 | Character strengths, gratitude | Presentation of virtues and character strengths, theory about gratitude | Everyday use of character strengths and new ways of application, future goals and character strengths that can help achieve them | List of accomplishments and achievements, journal of gratitude |
3 | Gratitude—middle measurement—introduction in cognitive psychotherapy | Theory about gratitude and its benefits—administration of questionnaires—theory about the errors in thinking | Letter of gratitude, personal motto—examples of cognitive distortions | Matching types of cognitive distortions with their examples |
4 | Recognizing negative automatic thoughts | Theory about negative thoughts and ways of discovering them | Identifying cognitive distortions and associating them with provoking situations | Journal of negative automatic thoughts |
5 | Dismantling negative automatic thoughts—ending and final measurement | Theory about challenging negative thoughts and finding alternatives—administration of questionnaires | Challenging negative automatic thinking and reframing it into alternative rational one, personal motto | |
Session Mechanical Engineers | ||||
1 | Initial measurement—introduction in cognitive psychotherapy | Administration of questionnaires—information about the goal of the intervention—theory about the errors in thinking | Examples of cognitive distortions | Matching types of cognitive distortions with their examples |
2 | Recognizing negative automatic thoughts | Theory about negative thoughts and ways of discovering them | Identifying cognitive distortions and associating them with provoking situations | Journal of negative automatic thoughts |
3 | Dismantling negative automatic thoughts—middle measurement—introduction in positive psychology | Theory about challenging negative thoughts and finding alternatives—administration of questionnaires—aim of the Three Good Things | Challenging negative automatic thinking and reframing it into alternative rational one, personal motto—Three Good Things | Three good things every day in a weekly span |
4 | Character strengths, gratitude | Presentation of virtues and character strengths, theory about gratitude | Everyday use of character strengths and new ways of application, future goals and character strengths that can help achieve them | List of accomplishments and achievements, journal of gratitude |
5 | Gratitude—ending and final measurement | Theory about gratitude and its benefits—administration of questionnaires | Letter of gratitude, personal motto |
Student Satisfaction with University Services Items | Experimental | Control | df | t | p | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | SD | M | SD | ||||
Class organization | 2.85 | 1.099 | 2.54 | 0.874 | 90 | 1.515 | 0.133 |
Secretary assistance | 2.25 | 1.056 | 2.08 | 0.987 | 90 | 0.809 | 0.421 |
E-platform | 2.13 | 1.305 | 2.21 | 0.871 | 90 | −0.381 | 0.704 |
Technical services | 1.95 | 1.131 | 2.04 | 0.969 | 90 | −0.403 | 0.688 |
Teaching quality | 3.55 | 1.061 | 2.94 | 1.037 | 90 | 2.759 | <0.01 |
Teachers’ knowledge | 3.83 | 0.931 | 3.35 | 1.046 | 90 | 2.283 | <0.05 |
University notes | 3.30 | 1.067 | 2.79 | 1.073 | 90 | 2.273 | <0.05 |
Testing mode | 3.58 | 0.874 | 2.52 | 1.000 | 90 | 5.300 | <0.001 |
Grading mode | 3.43 | 1.059 | 2.54 | 1.056 | 90 | 3.985 | <0.001 |
DASS-21 Factors | Departments | M | SD |
---|---|---|---|
Depression Pre | Electrical | 0.503 | 0.629 |
Mechanical | 0.857 | 0.383 | |
Civil | 0.908 | 0.766 | |
Depression Mid | Electrical | 0.725 | 0.611 |
Mechanical | 0.478 | 0.396 | |
Civil | 0.672 | 0.717 | |
Depression Post | Electrical | 0.824 | 0.612 |
Mechanical | 0.391 | 0.398 | |
Civil | 0.429 | 0.505 | |
Anxiety Pre | Electrical | 0.352 | 0.503 |
Mechanical | 0.547 | 0.394 | |
Civil | 0.538 | 0.514 | |
Anxiety Mid | Electrical | 0.519 | 0.540 |
Mechanical | 0.335 | 0.403 | |
Civil | 0.513 | 0.503 | |
Anxiety Post | Electrical | 0.563 | 0.587 |
Mechanical | 0.329 | 0.427 | |
Civil | 0.454 | 0.423 | |
Stress Pre | Electrical | 0.599 | 0.557 |
Mechanical | 1.199 | 0.604 | |
Civil | 1.445 | 0.654 | |
Stress Mid | Electrical | 0.813 | 0.623 |
Mechanical | 0.932 | 0.489 | |
Civil | 1.109 | 0.588 | |
Stress Post | Electrical | 0.898 | 0.658 |
Mechanical | 0.609 | 0.476 | |
Civil | 0.790 | 0.438 |
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Kalamatianos, A.; Kounenou, K.; Pezirkianidis, C. The Implementation of a Blended Counseling Intervention in Undergraduate Engineering Students: The Effect on Mental Health. Healthcare 2025, 13, 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050511
Kalamatianos A, Kounenou K, Pezirkianidis C. The Implementation of a Blended Counseling Intervention in Undergraduate Engineering Students: The Effect on Mental Health. Healthcare. 2025; 13(5):511. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050511
Chicago/Turabian StyleKalamatianos, Antonios, Kalliope Kounenou, and Christos Pezirkianidis. 2025. "The Implementation of a Blended Counseling Intervention in Undergraduate Engineering Students: The Effect on Mental Health" Healthcare 13, no. 5: 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050511
APA StyleKalamatianos, A., Kounenou, K., & Pezirkianidis, C. (2025). The Implementation of a Blended Counseling Intervention in Undergraduate Engineering Students: The Effect on Mental Health. Healthcare, 13(5), 511. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050511