A Trauma-Informed Approach to Building College Students’ Resilience

Purpose: This paper describes the development of a new psychoeducational universal prevention resilience program (https://strong.fsu.edu) designed to complement existing mental health services at a large public university. The first set of descriptive data (n = 229) from the project’s student surveys is discussed. Methods: A voluntary and anonymous online questionnaire was used to determine student attitudes toward the new program. Results: A large majority of participants (more than 80%) perceived the website to be credible, rating it as believable, trustworthy, and accurate. 90% believe the university resources included in the project would help themselves and others overcome struggles and challenges. Other results are also discussed. Discussion: This data from a unique project shows the promise of using an online, integrative tool for a campus resilience initiative. The project is dynamic; analysis of student responses will inform ongoing revisions and refinements.