SCoRE | Benefits to Schools and Students

The case for SCoRE

Hear what researchers, college and university administrators, and LEAD Pittsburgh affiliates have to say about the need for resilience education and SCoRE.

Benefits to Schools and Students

Posted on September 19, 2011

David Kupfer (bio) explores the benefits of SCoRE to schools and students.

I think when we talked about what the impact may be on college life on individual students having this, if you will, reservoir of increased coping styles and ability to deal with stress and having a certain level of resilience, I think is going to be useful for students who may really hit the period of stressful events or adverse effects. So for example, unfortunately, say a parent dies or a relative dies while somebody is in college—how to handle that so it doesn't impact so negatively on their performance or they have to drop out.

If, in fact, they even wind up seeing a counselor and needing to take some time off, there is always the big issue of coming back to school and how to handle that. I think that that's where coping and resilience factors really play sometimes a role that we don't give sufficient attention to and that is the kind of material that I think if incorporated early into college life would benefit the university and colleges and the campuses in many ways, because I think they will avoid a certain amount of increased individual difficulties with kids and students and that's wear and tear on the entire college campus.

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Excerpted from interview with contributor in May 2011.

More About "Resilience"

What the experts say

"Even for the brightest, best-adjusted young person the transition from high school to college is a very, very challenging one.… All young people entering college could benefit from focusing on what their strengths are and how to protect themselves in the face of the stresses that will inevitably come with the transition to college life.… The lessons that one learns in developing a kind of resilience outlook are lessons that will serve one for the rest of one's life."

Ellen Frank, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

"This program provides students with a skill set that either initiates them into resilience or adds to their strengths, and resilience will help them throughout the entire course of their lives."

Toni Macpherson, MEd
Executive Director
LEAD Pittsburgh

"If resilience education were incorporated early into college life, it would benefit campuses in many ways, because they would avoid a certain amount of increased individual difficulties with students, and that's wear and tear on the entire college campus.… There is no doubt in my mind that having a set of coping and resilience skills is just as important as whether I get an A or a B in a particular course."

David J. Kupfer, MD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

"Learning to be resilient is imperative in life; I don't know how you can go through life as well without it.… I think students will take away fewer scars of failure, rejection, and anxiety because they’ll know how to do things they might not have known had they not taken a course in resilience."

Sheila R. Fine
Chair, Board of Directors, and Principal Founder
LEAD Pittsburgh