Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a Behavioral Activation(BA) treatment program for college students with depression symptoms. For this purpose, 42 college students with depression symptoms were randomly assigned to three groups(BA group, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group, and Control group), and the program was implemented once a week(60 minutes) for a total of eight sessions. The program was reconstructed by the researcher with a focus on improving college life adjustment from behavioral activation therapy developed by H.J. Seo, K.H. Choi, E.B. Lee, and Y.W. Han (2018). Before/after the program and 2 weeks after the end of the program, Center for Epideniological Studies-Depression scale and College Life Adjustment Scale were conducted, and data from 30 finalists were analyzed, excluding those who dropped out. As a result, unlike the control group, the depressive symptoms were significantly alleviated in the two treatment groups, and the depression reductions in the BA and CBT groups were at the same statistical level. In the case of the BA group, this decrease in depression continued until follow up. And although there was a difference from the CBT group in academic adjustment, there was no significant change immediately after the end of the program. These results suggest that BA relieves depression as much as CBT in college students with depression symptoms, and can later improve academic adjustment. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed in the discussion.