A Pilot Feasibility Study for an Emotion Regulation Skills Training (ER4ALL) for Students in Higher Education

Entering Higher Education (HE) marks a turning point for youth learning to function as independent adults, something that can be both exciting and challenging. Students are confronted with a considerable number of changes to manage (e.g. high academic expectations, making new relationships, making independent decisions), for which they may be psychosocially unfamiliar or uncomfortable.

Several studies have indeed shown that rising levels of difficulty in socio-emotional adaptation for students in HE, is linked to decreased levels of engagement and completion rates. On the other hand, the acquisition of psycho-social skills, seems to have a positive effect on students' academic achievement, resilience, employability and thriving in life.

A current challenge for HE Institutions is to ensure that during their studies, their future graduates, will have the opportunity to develop psycho-social skills, for effective management of challenges, which extend beyond academic contexts and outcomes throughout the life span in domains such as success in work, positive interpersonal relationships, and better mental health and overall well-being.

Further examination of the potential impact of integrating empirically supported transversal components that derive from empirical research (e.g. emotion regulation skills), is needed. In addition to that, since the focus is on a university-wide student population, it would be useful to further investigate whether the standard mode of delivery (in which learning capacity, language ability, and executive functions are considered essential ingredients for program success), fits well to student population with diverse learning styles, academic performance or learning abilities, such as language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing), executive skills (e.g. sustain attention) or cognitive processes such as memory and abstract thinking. A growing literature pinpoints to the potential of incorporating art-based methodologies, such as music which is characterized by personalized methods and has shown promising effects on its effectiveness for inclusive educational practices. Music is a promising means that can afford opportunities for learning not afforded by other modalities. Collectively, music holds the potential to address life-long needs for young adults, by infusing culturally appropriate practices that can be easily integrated into the young adults' everyday experiences at the level of their abilities. Music interventions have been linked to improvements in mental and physical capacities in various settings and populations. Research findings additionally support that music can be used as a tool for emotion regulation by reducing stress and stimulate cognitive processes such as attention, learning and memory. Taking into account the above, it is of great interest to develop and investigate how different modalities, such as music-based methodologies, can alter the effectiveness of existing empirically supported approaches, such as emotion regulation skills training.

The primary objective of this study is to gain insight into the acceptability and feasibility of the "ER4ALL", a brief course for enhancing emotion regulation skills for students in higher education. The secondary objective of this study is to collect preliminary evidence for beneficial effects in increasing students' acquired knowledge on adaptive emotion regulation, thus improvement on general psychological functioning.