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The class group counseling on life education improves meaning in life for undergraduate students

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Abstract

Although many studies have found the effect of group counseling on enhancement of meaning in life, few studies have employed the class group counseling in life education. The present study assessed the effect of class group counseling on life education for undergraduate students. Two classes from a Chinese university were randomly allocated into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received class group counseling for 1.5 months. The intervention and control groups completed the meaning in life questionnaire (MLQ), the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS), and the positive affect and negative affect scales (PANAS) before and after the intervention. The results showed that the intervention improved students’ life satisfaction, positive affect, and presence of meaning, and decreased negative affect. These findings indicated that class group counseling could play an important role in the life education of undergraduate students. The current study extends our understanding of improving mental health and preventing suicide for undergraduate students.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Social Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2021P011, 2021P019), the Research Project on Emergency Services for Epidemic Prevention and Control of Yan’an University (ydfk043, ydfk040), and the Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi Province, China (2020TD-037). We thank Yongchuan Fu for his helpful suggestions during study design. We thank Juanjuan Sun for polishing the language of our manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Educational Science, Yan’an University, 716000, Yan’an, PR China

    Caixia Yang & Ruiru Liu

  2. MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, No. 199 South Chang’an Road, Yanta District, 710062, Xi’an, PR China

    Zhongling Pi, Xiying Li & Wei Wang

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  1. Caixia Yang
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Conceptualization: Caixia Yang, Ruiru Liu, Wei Wang; Methodology: Zhongling Pi, Xiying Li; Formal analysis and investigation: Caixia Yang, Zhongling Pi, Xiying Li; Writing - original draft preparation: Caixia Yang, Ruiru Liu, Wei Wang; Writing - review and editing: Caixia Yang, Zhongling Pi, Wei Wang; Funding acquisition: Caixia Yang, Wei Wang.

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Correspondence to Wei Wang.

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Yang, C., Pi, Z., Liu, R. et al. The class group counseling on life education improves meaning in life for undergraduate students. Curr Psychol 42, 25345–25352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03623-9

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