Effects of a Hope-Based, Single Session Online Intervention on Perfectionist Students’ Anxiety

This research aimed to test a single-session hope-based intervention anchored on the Locus-of-Hope Theory, specifically targeting perfectionist undergraduate students who were deemed to be vulnerable during the pandemic. The intervention was a modified version of a single-session goal-pursuit intervention for college students. Phase one involved a cross-sectional survey among 467 undergraduate students from a private university in Manila (65% females, 34% males, and four respondents chose not to disclose their gender). Respondents were on average 19.72 years old (SD = 1.29). The survey was used to screen high scorers on personal standards perfectionism who would qualify for the intervention phase. Phase two randomly assigned 120 participants into three groups (hope, mindfulness, waitlist control). Out of the 80 students selected to undergo the two intervention groups, 27 underwent the hope intervention while 17 underwent the mindfulness intervention. Among the intervention phase participants, 68.4% were females, and 28.1% were males. Two respondents chose not to disclose their gender. Participants were on average 20.19 years old (SD = 1.16). All participants were administered hope and anxiety scales three times and a between (hope, mindfulness, control) and within-group comparisons was conducted. Anxiety decreased from pre-test to post-intervention for the hope and mindfulness conditions, and these reductions were maintained after one month. Implications for the development of hope-based interventions are discussed.