Building Resilience: 10 Protective Factors Every College Student Needs

By Cynthia Lietz

Many people are talking about the increased mental health needs of young people today. The cited reasons for the escalating mental health crisis are manifold and include lingering repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased reliance on technology – particularly social media – that now mediate much of our social interaction.  As colleges and universities seek to ensure students can achieve their dream of earning an undergraduate degree, they must grapple with the need to meet the emotional needs of today’s student body. 

Cultivating students’ resilience may be the answer.

Resilience is a process of coping and adaptation that occurs over time. Research indicates that experiencing a higher than typical dose of adversity can increase the likelihood of negative outcomes for one’s physical and mental health. At the same time, building strengths, also known as protective factors, can minimize the impact of loss, trauma and ongoing stress allowing young people to thrive. For this reason, this topic is highly relevant for college and universities as they serve a student body with increased emotional needs.

In our new book, How to Build Resilience in College Students, we describe the 10 most important protective factors that assist young people in strengthening their capacity for coping and adaptation. Colleges and universities should create opportunities for activating and cultivating these abilities in their students as a way of being more responsive to the needs of this current generation.

So, how do you get started? Let’s examine the most critical protective factors that can support young people enrolled in higher education.

First, social support involves the practical and emotional care that is given and received by the people in our lives. It is the most important protective factor and one that can easily be developed on a college campus. All people have inherent worth and dignity. Creating a trauma-informed, resilience-promoting culture means that students develop a true sense of belonging during their college experience. This includes having positive, affirming interactions with faculty, advisors, counselors and administrators. People matter, and there is no question that being in college can help to reinforce the development of positive relationships.

With that said, while people matter, not all people, activities and places are good for us. Boundary setting is the second protective factor, and it involves helping students know when to say “no.” Setting boundaries may simply involve staying home on a Saturday night to work on a paper, or it may mean letting go of a romantic relationship that is unhealthy. Helping students prioritize and make choices that help them achieve their goals is also useful. We see student success courses and co-curricular events that teach this skill as great places to activate this strength.

Insight involves stepping back from a situation and gaining a better understanding of it. It requires self-awareness, or a recognition of one’s own part in a challenging situation. Insight also necessitates empathy, or the ability to accurately understand the position of another. Considering colleges and universities are places for learning, we cannot think of a better place to activate one’s insight through reading, reflection and group discussion than on campus. Many institutions also offer counseling services that can also be helpful in developing better insight.

This insightful How to guide provides clear, evidence-based guidelines for activating and cultivating resilience in college students. Drawing on extensive research, Cynthia Lietz and Breanna Carpenter Lietz outline ten of the most important strengths that help college students overcome loss, trauma and other challenges which impact their well-being and academic performance.

Initiative involves seeing a problem or need and taking action, and this protective factor is informed by commitment, another strength that involves the undeniable drive to accomplish a goal. For some, coaching self-efficacy — or the belief in their own capabilities — is needed to move forward. Colleges and universities can adopt a growth mindset that communicates and reinforces the idea that students are capable and that mistakes are the very things that help us grow. Developing a culture of innovation that values the testing of ideas can help students take action that aligns with their goals.

Agility  means students learn to be creative and flexible as they adapt to college and grow throughout their degree program. Mental agility is particularly important and is something that undergirds the general education requirements that build critical thinking, a vital part of the undergraduate experience. Being more agile is one of very reasons young people come to college!

Communication involves the verbal and nonverbal expressions of our experiences. When life gets difficult, getting stress outside of our minds and bodies is important. For some, talking things through with a faculty member, counselor or classmate can be helpful. However, for some students, nonverbal expressions through art, music, dance or even exercise can meet this need. Humor, another protective factor that can be a form of communication, involves remaining light-hearted, even in the face of difficulty. These protective factors can be activated through course work and events offered by student services.

Having a moral compass means students develop their own personal value system that guides their choices. For some, a sense of spirituality is an important part of coping and adaptation. Offering clubs that allow students to connect with other students with similar interests and backgrounds can be useful. 

Finally, appraisal, or the ability to attach positive meaning to difficult circumstances, can help students as they move past loss, trauma or disappointments by finding purpose in their pain. Many assignments encourage reflection that can cultivate this strength.

We hope you will consider learning more about resilience and its value in our new book as we work collectively to support this new generation of learners!

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How to Build Resilience in College Students is written by Cynthia A. Lietz, President’s Professor of Social Work, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University and Breanna M. Carpenter Lietz, Director, Office of the Chief Operating Officer and Foster Care Advocate, Arizona State University, USA