Kappa Gamma Case Study

Introduction
Upon assessing the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house at the University of Iowa, it was determined that stress management and time management were the top two health concerns for the girls that lived in the sorority house. This was determined by using the Checklist of Health Promotion at Worksites survey (CHEW) and a Needs and Interest Survey by Welcoa. Eight total needs and interest surveys were dispersed between a total of 36 members. This group of 8 was thought to accurately represent our target population of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members between the ages of 18-21. To analyze the Needs and Interest Survey data, the average likeliness to attend each of the 13 different program topics was recorded and plotted on a bar graph.
From the bar graph it was determined that the top 3 health concerns were Nutrition Education Programs, Stress Reduction Programs and Time Management Programs. According to CHEW, the site did exceptionally well on responsible drinking signage with a total of 15 posts on bulletin boards, while doing rather poorly on room and activities for physical activities on site. Members of the sorority did not see the lack of physical activity on site to be as big of an issue as their problems with stress management, which is why stress management was selected as the sororities top health issue, and time management playing a role in members stress levels. Using this information, an intervention was developed to address the lack of stress management strategies. The goal of this intervention is to reduce stress levels for the young women in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Health Issue Using the PRECEDE-PROCEED model for health programming, planning, and evaluating, the predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors were determined.
This model begins with social assessment. This was done using the CHEW and Needs Interest Survey. From these surveys, the target populations health risks and concerns were defined. The second phase of the model is the epidemiological assessment. This assessment includes genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors that affect our top health issue, stress management. According to the University of Iowa College Health Assessment Data, the following are the top stressors for Iowa students; Academics, Finances, Intimate relationships, Career-related issues, Sleep difficulties, Personal appearance, Family problems, other social relationships, Health problem of family/friend, and Personal health issues (SOURCE). Of these top stressors, genetic problems may include personal appearance or personal health issues. Environmental stressors may include but are not limited to sleep difficulties or personal health issues. Lastly, most of these stressors are modified by behavioral factors. The third phase of this model includes an educational and ecological assessment. In this phase factors that are believed to most likely result in behavior reform are selected. This is the phase where the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors were determined. Predisposing factors are influenced by an individual's knowledge, beliefs, values, and
attitudes. Predisposing factors may include ones knowledge or lack of knowledge of stress reduction techniques, ones values or beliefs about the University of Iowa’s list of top stressors, and ones attitude toward stress factors. For example, a student may feel like being stressed is part of being in college and has the belief that nothing can be done about it. Enabling factors are environmental and they support actions and behaviors. This could be the convenience of resources, stress management programs and services, and anything that empowers behavior change. The University of Iowa has resources for stress management, but according to The University of Iowa College Health Assessment Data only 15% of students have taken advantage of university counseling while over 60% of students have had the sense of being overwhelmed in the last 30 days (SOURCE). This means that student do not know of the resources available to them, because over 70% of students report they would seek counseling if they had a personal problem bothering them(SOURCE). Reinforcing factors may include compensation or penalties as a result of a certain behavior. Some reinforcing factors may include social praise or social disapproval, an internal feeling of accomplishment or an internal sense of regret, and lastly a physical prize or punishment. Based on the list of stressors and the needs and interest survey, it seems that students feel they do not have enough time to accomplish everything they need to in a day, and prioritize their time for activities based on what they feel will have the least form of penalties or disapproval. From these predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors research was conducted to determine what the best method would be to reduce stress in this population.
Research
When designing an intervention, it was imperative to have research backing the methods that were chosen to reduce stress in the sorority.
The first study that was examined before developing the program was a theory-based study based on perceived control. The design of this study began with 194 college students who were randomly assigned to a present control intervention or a stress-information only group, via coin-flip. (Frazier et al., 2015) This method placed 92 students in the present-control group, and 102 students in the information only group. It is important to note that the demographics of this study consisted of mostly first or second year female Caucasian students. This matches the demographics of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, so the results should translate into this field well. The present-control group’s intervention contained 4 one hour long modules to complete over a 2 week span. The first three modules each contained a video of an expert who provided education about the specific topic of the module; a narrated video presentation with quotes from past intervention participants related to the module topic; and an application exercise. (Frazier et al., 2015) “Module 1 contained information about common college student stressors and their effects; Module 2 defined past, present, and future control and described the positive outcomes associated with present control; and Module 3 described how to avoid pitfalls when focusing on present control in daily life.”
(Frazier et al., 2015) Participants were asked to fill out stress logs that asked questions about things that stress them out in their lives. They were then asked to apply strategies given in the modules to their daily stressors. The 4th and final module explained how participants can continue to use the skills they have learned in the previous modules. Finally a follow up survey was given to this group three weeks after the conclusion of these modules. Participants in the comparison group completed a pretest, module 1 (stress information), the posttest, and the follow-up survey. (Frazier et al., 2015) The results of this study were used based on the scores of the pre and post-test given to both groups. These tests consisted of scales of present control questions, perceived stress questions, and stress, depression, and anxiety questions on scales of 1-4. Based on these scores, it was found that the present-control group displayed a significant decrease in stress and mental health symptoms compared to the information only group. Overall this shows that the present-control intervention method is successful. The second study observed tested the effectiveness of a 3-week self-compassion group intervention for enhancing resilience and well-being among female college students. (Smeets, Neff, Alberts, & Peters, 2014) Once again the demographics of this study matches the demographics of Kappa Kappa Gamma perfectly, so the results should translate to our target population. This study began with 52 female students, and similar to the previous study, the groups were then randomly assigned to an intervention group teaching self-compassion, and a control group teaching time management skills. The interventions were held once a week for three weeks. Twenty-seven students were assigned to the self-compassion group, and twenty-five students to the time management group. The self-compassion group showed a presentation and followed with self-care exercises and a discussion period. The time management intervention delivered background information on time management and had the participants explain how they use their time efficiently. The results were measured by a series of surveys on scales of 1-4. These surveys measure Self-Compassion, Mindfulness Accept without Judgment, Mindfulness Non-reactivity to Inner Experience, Life Satisfaction, Connectedness, Optimism, Self-Efficacy, Positive Affect, Negative Affect, Rumination, and Worry. (Smeets et al., 2015)From these measurements average gains from a pretest survey to the post-test survey are made. The study showed that the self-compassion intervention led to a much larger rise in every category measured compared to the time management intervention, except satisfaction and connectedness, where both interventions saw similar results. The results of this study show that a focus of self-efficacy will have an overall greater impact on these student’s well-being compared to a time management intervention. This can be translated into the stress management health topic because Self-Compassion, Mindfulness Accept without Judgment, Mindfulness Non-reactivity to Inner Experience, Life Satisfaction, Connectedness, Optimism, Self-Efficacy, Positive Affect, Negative Affect, Rumination, and Worry all directly affect stress levels.