Strengths Intervention Strategies

There are a number of strengths-based intervention strategies that are effective with college students. Before deciding on which one to use, however, it's important that you know what outcome you want your intervention to affect.



Some of the outcomes of strengths-based interventions that have been measured so far include: (1) academic self-efficacy; (2) academic performance--either GPA or exam grades in a course; (3) retention from one year to the next; (4) academic engagement; (5) meaning in life; (6) satisfaction with college; (7) satisfaction with the particular strengths-based experience, such as advising or a specific course; (8) hope; and (9) strengths awareness and ownership. Significant results have been found in each instance, although the research designs vary. Some are quasi-experimental studies and some are correlational studies utilizing multiple regression to predict the particular outcome.



One of the best studies was conducted by Dr. Linda Cantwell in 2005 as part of her dissertation research at Azusa Pacific University. She utilized a strengths-based approach to her first-year Public Speaking class for an entire semester and compared students' academic engagement, exam scores, and public speaking performances (rated blindly by qualified observers) to those of students whose section of the course had been randomly selected as a control group. She found significant differences between the two groups on all her outcomes--and on academic engagement in particular. She also found significant differences in students' perception of the entire campus climate--and this was after controlling for their entering levels of academic engagement.

For more information on the impact of strengths-based interventions, plan to join me at 11 am Pacific time on Wednesday, September 5th, for a live webinar -- free! Contact Irene Burklund at the Gallup Organization (irene_burklund@gallup.com) for more information on how to sign up.