Symposia
Program / Treatment Design
Fakir Yunus, Ph.D.
Dalhousie University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Patricia Conrod, PhD
Professor
University of Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Laura Lambe, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Audrey Livet, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
University of Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Raquel Nogueira-Arjona, PhD
Lecturer
University of Roehampton
London, England, United Kingdom
Katherine Rose, MA
Graduate student
The University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Cassidy Wallace, MA
Graduate student
The University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Matthew Keough, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kara Thompson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, NS, Canada
Marvin Krank, PhD
Professor
The University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Sherry H. Stewart, Ph.D.
Professor
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to marked emotional distress for many. The pandemic has been particularly disruptive for university undergraduates. Prior to the pandemic, personality-targeted interventions have been demonstrated to be an effective approach for reducing emotional distress (Conrod, 2016). However, such effective interventions need to be accessible (e.g., virtually delivered) during public health emergencies.
Methods: This pre-post pilot study tested a virtually delivered version of the personality targeted ‘UniVenture’ intervention carried out among N=90 undergraduate students (aged 18-25 years) recruited from five Canadian universities. The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) was used to identify elevations on negative thinking, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, or sensation seeking for determining student eligibility. This group-based intervention (two sessions one week apart) involved goal setting and personality-specific CBT coping skills training. At pre-intervention and one-month post-intervention, participants completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7 (GAD7), coping with anxiety and depression drinking (BAMM), and five subscales of the COVID Stress Scales-Brief (CSS-B): COVID compulsive checking and reassurance seeking; COVID danger and contamination fears; COVID fears about economic consequences; COVID traumatic stress symptoms; and COVID xenophobia.
Results: Overall, intent-to-treat multilevel models showed significant reductions over time in generalized anxiety (β = -1.68, SE= 0.57, p < 0.05), COVID danger and contamination fears (β = - 0.28, SE= 0.12, p < 0.05), and COVID xenophobia (β = - 0.93, SE= 0.42, p< 0.05). Groupwise multilevel models showed significant reductions over time in COVID compulsive checking and reassurance seeking (β = - 0.61, SE = 0.26, p = 0.02) and coping with depression drinking (β = - 20.67, SE= 6.78, p < 0.05) among the negative thinking students, and in generalized anxiety among the anxiety sensitive students (β = -3.12, SE= 0.88, p < 0.001), but no changes in any of the outcomes for the impulsive or sensation seeking students.
Conclusions: Results suggest promise for the personality targeted UniVenture program as an accessible virtual intervention to help at-risk undergraduates (particularly those with internalizing traits) manage emotional distress during a public health emergency.