Efficacy of a Preventive Counseling Program for Improving Psychological Hardiness and the Positive Use of Social Network Sites among Students at Risk

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a preventive counseling program for improving psychological hardiness (PsyH) and the positive use of social network sites (SNSs). The sample consisted of 30 students from Mu’tah University in Jordan who were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (15) or a control group (15). Two constructed scales - the PsyH scale and the Positive Use of SNSs scale - were administered to both groups pre-test and post-test, and a onemonth follow-up measure was also administered to the experimental group. The findings revealed that the preventive counseling program significantly improved the level of PsyH and the positive use of SNSs and seemed to have sustained efficacy. Keywords Preventive counseling program. Social network sites . Psychological hardiness . Students at risk . Jordan 

International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, v40 n2 p173-186 Jun 2018