Group talks on values and strengths briefly made study more fun than calm-down sessions

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   139 medical students in their fourth year, about 25 on average. They were on a one-week mental health course in Germany. 70 were in the values groups and 69 in the relaxation groups.

2. 02

   What they did

   During one 5-day course, students met in groups of 6 or 7 with a therapist. They had five sessions of one hour, one each afternoon. They picked the values that mattered most to them, named each other's strengths and wrote a plan. The other group had five relaxation sessions with the same therapists.

3. 03

   What happened

   The paper says the values groups enjoyed the week more and felt closer to each other. But the paper's numbers don't add up, so it isn't fully clear which group scored higher. Other questions on drive to study showed no gap. At the end of the term only 73 students answered again, and the groups no longer differed.

What the study found

1. Mixed

   Group talks on values and strengths made study more fun than calm-down sessions, but not by term's end.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Action: Talk through your mixed feelings about changingtested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused
   • Rule: With a coach or therapistused

   Randomised trial of 139 medical students in Germany · vs five relaxation sessions with the same therapists · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; many people dropped out

Source