Although Life Skills programs showed to improve the psychological and physical wellbeing of individuals, little attention has been paid, worldwide and in the Arab countries in specific to implementing life skills intervention for university students. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a life skills based health promotion intervention KHOTWA (STEP) in enhancing the wellbeing of university students in Lebanon, a country that faces economic and political instability. This is a quasi-experimental study, with pre and post-test, intervention-control design. Each group was formed of 78 participants studying in a private university in Lebanon. Mixed design was used to address the process and outcomes objectives of the intervention. The program was carried online due to COVID-19 pandemic. Significant differences were observed between the intervention and the control groups for life skills, dietary habits and mental health scores at the 3-month follow-up. For the intervention group, a significant increase was observed in the mean score of each of the following Life Skills subscales: self-care (p = 0.001), work and study (p = 0.013), career and education planning (p = 0.011) and looking forward/goal settings (p < 0.001). Students also achieved a healthier eating habit compared to those in the control group by decreasing their consumption of processed food. There was no significant effect in terms of body mass index (p = 0.827). Also, there was a significant change in the mental health status (p = 0.012) only in the intervention group as its mean score decreased after 3 months of the intervention implementation. This intervention enhances the mental health and promotes healthy habits leading consequently to a better quality of life and more productivity amongst university students. Therefore, such interventions should be replicated in other similar context to improve university students’ well-being.

尽管生活技能计划显示出可以改善个人的心理和身体健康，但在世界范围内和阿拉伯国家中，很少有人关注具体实施大学生生活技能干预。在这项研究中，我们测试了基于生活技能的健康促进干预 KHOTWA (STEP) 在提高黎巴嫩大学生福祉方面的有效性，黎巴嫩是一个面临经济和政治不稳定的国家。这是一项准实验研究，具有前测和后测、干预控制设计。每个小组由在黎巴嫩一所私立大学学习的 78 名参与者组成。混合设计用于解决干预的过程和结果目标。由于 COVID-19 大流行，该计划在线进行。在 3 个月的随访中观察到干预组和对照组在生活技能、饮食习惯和心理健康评分方面存在显着差异。对于干预组，观察到以下每个生活技能分量表的平均得分显着增加：自我照顾（p  = 0.001)、工作和学习 ( p  = 0.013)、职业和教育规划 ( p  = 0.011) 以及展望/目标设定 ( p  < 0.001)。与对照组相比，学生们还通过减少加工食品的摄入量获得了更健康的饮食习惯。在体重指数方面没有显着影响（p  = 0.827）。此外，心理健康状况也发生了显着变化（p = 0.012) 仅在干预组中，因为其平均评分在干预实施 3 个月后下降。这种干预可以增强心理健康并促进健康的习惯，从而提高大学生的生活质量和生产力。因此，此类干预措施应在其他类似情况下复制，以提高大学生的福祉。