Effectiveness of Cognitive – Behavioral Management of Stress on Students’ Homesickness

Abstract

The present study aims to determine the effectiveness of Cognitive- Behavioral Stress Management on homesickness
among university students.The study was conducted in a pre-test post-test experimental design. Two weeks after their arrival at
the University dormitories, 225 freshman students completed the 33-item measure of homesickness, Homesickness
Questionnaire (Archer et al, 1998). According to this questionnaire, 88 of the students were found to be suffering from
homesickness (their scores were 1 SD beyond the average). From this population, 50 students were randomly selected and
assigned to the intervention and control group. Subjects in the experimental group, undergone 10 sessions of cognitivebehavioral
stress management Training. Subjects in the control group received no treatment.Data were analyzed using
independent t test. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the pre-test result. However, after
completing the stress management training, the experimental group showed significantly lower scores than the control group.
Furthermore, two factors of homesickness (i.e. dissatisfaction with the university and strong attachment to home) which did not
show any differences between the groups in the pre-test results, revealed significant reduction in the post-test results of the
experimental group.The results of the present study show that cognitive-behavioral stress management training can be effective
in alleviating homesickness and the problems that the students may encounter when they enter a new university environment.