A life skills intervention for developing psychological capital among college students in India

Background: Life skills programmes focus on teaching individuals how to make responsible decisions and healthy choices in life. However, in the current Indian context, importance and priority are given mainly to the academic achievement of young people rather than developing both hard and soft skills. Aims: The current study aimed to look into the impact of a life skills intervention programme on psychological capital and its components namely resilience, optimism, self-efficacy, and hope among college students in Punjab, India. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to conduct the study on a sample of thousand first-year college students. The study was conducted among consenting first-year students attending the constituent colleges of Punjabi University, Patiala, India. The experimental and control groups comprised 498 and 502 college students respectively. The Punjabi version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire was used to assess psychological capital in four dimensions; resilience, hope, self-efficacy, and optimism. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance revealed that life skills training plays a significant role in developing psychological capital and its dimensions among college students. Conclusions: The results of this study point towards the need to integrate life skills programmes into the higher education curriculum for ensuring positive youth development.