P20. The Zenstudies Program: Making a Healthy Post-Secondary Transition. A Study of the Efficacy and the Quality of the Implementation

Overview

The poster presents the program Zenstudies: making a healthy post-secondary transition that was elaborated by Marcotte et al, 2016, 2021. Zenstudies is a multilevel program including universal and indicated prevention. The program follows the objective to prevent the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms and to reduce the risk of school dropout. The program was the focus of a large implementation study (2018-21) to test its efficacy with first-year college students. Results supported the efficacy. The program allows the acquisition of knowledges in participant regarding resilience toward mental health (anxiety and depression) as well as the stress of post-secondary transition and transition to emergence to adulthood. The second and third components were also found to reach their goals, which are to teach prevention strategies, among the cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, social and communication abilities, mindfulness and sense of belonging to college. The majority of teachers and professionals who implemented the program reported that the program respond to the needs of students and they felt competent to use it. These results will be discussed in the context of the advantage and limits to school implementation of mental health programs.

Poster Category: Practice/Programmatic

Presenter(s)

Presenter(s): Diane Marcotte, PhD, Josianne Chicoine, PhD, and Simon Lapierre, BA  (University of Québec)