Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Immunization Intervention Program for Undergraduates against Negative Emotional Experiences Based on the Pennsylvania Preventive Model

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Pennsylvania preventive program on student optimism, life satisfaction, positive and negative emotional experiences. In this pretest-posttest nonequivalent-group design accompanied by with follow up stage, 60 students at Shahid Beheshti University in experimental and control groups responded to the Life Orientations Test-Revised (LOT-R, Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994), Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS, Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, 1995), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS, Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988) and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS, Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985). The experimental group received 7 resilience training sessions (2 hours a session). The results of covariance analysis indicated that Penn preventive program was effective in increasing optimism, life satisfaction and positive effect and in decreasing depression, anxiety, stress and negative effect in short term and long term. Theses findings suggest that resilience training by increasing positive thinking, emotional management and interpersonal relationships skills could result in mental immunization in university students.