The Effect of Three Life Skills Instruction on the General Health of College Freshmen

Background and Transition from high school to university is a stressful phenomenon for most students, so it is imperative that they gain a variety of skills to adapt with the new situation. This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of teaching life skills including: stress management, self-consciousness, and effective communication on the general health of freshmen. This study employed quasi-experimental method and had a control group as a standard of comparison. Âmong the undergraduate freshmen of Ïslamic Âzad Üniversity, Ürmia Branch, 100 students were selected through a multi-stage sampling method and were randomly divided into four equal groups (three experimental groups and one control group). Then, three types of instructions, namely, stress management, self-consciousness and effective communication were offered to them in six sessions (each 1.5 hours). Finally, the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of general health questionnaire was compared. Ôverall, the difference between pre- and post-test scores related to general health components was significantly meaningful in favor of experimental groups (P<0.05). Ït was found that two elements i.e. anxiety and insomnia in stress management and self-consciousness groups, and the element of body indications in effective communication group improved more than the other elements. Âltogether, the means of dyadic analyses showed that teaching effective communication skills influenced all components of general health and the total scores achieved in effective communication skills resulted in better improvements in comparison with other two instructions.Çonclusion: Ôur findings showed that teaching the life skills to students resulted in improved general health. Thus, it is suggested that these types of skill instructions, particularly communicative skills be included as a part of the university mental health programs.