Empowering Autistic College Students: Mental Health Skill Building at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Summary

The purpose of this project is to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a mental health skill-building and empowerment program (MH-POWER) for college students on the autism spectrum facing stress, anxiety, and depression. The program, grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and habit formation, will be implemented through weekly sessions and daily practice over 8 weeks. To evaluate the program's preliminary efficacy, we will measure mental health symptoms at baseline, mid-point, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Positive outcomes could lead to scalable interventions.

Eligibility

Age range

18–30 years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

No

Interventions

• Behavioral
  The MH-POWER program

  The MH-POWER program is an 8-week, structured, and manualized program to improve mental health skills. The program design consists of weekly 60-minute group sessions (8-12 in each group) and daily structured practice activities to reinforce the skills learned in each session. Based on the Self-Regulation Framework, the MH-POWER program systematically integrates (a) CBT with a specific focus on cognitive restructuring and behavioral activation; (b) ACT with mindfulness, acceptance strategies, and values clarification; and (c) the science of habit formation, which includes action planning, goal setting, prompts, and self-monitoring. The program focuses on developing greater relationships between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, as well as the ability to cope effectively. The focus areas of development include learning how thoughts create emotions and influence actions, developing a positive mindset, enhancing stress management and coping skills, employing structured problem

Location