The transition to college is associated with significant changes in social support networks and concomitant increases in depressive symptoms. First-year students who are more socially engaged within their new academic settings may experience greater overall wellbeing. Behavioral activation (BA) is an evidence-based intervention which promotes individuals’ engagement with valued activities and has been examined as a possible primary prevention for depressive symptoms among first-year students. Yet, the important role of social adjustment, and its impact on students’ activity level, has not yet been considered. The current study is a secondary data analysis of research evaluating a BA-based intervention embedded into a first-year orientation course. The aim of the project was to evaluate the efficacy of BA on improving social adjustment and the effect of social adjustment on subsequent depressive symptoms. A diverse sample of college students (n = 71) attending a state university in the mid-Atlantic region reported on their levels of depression, behavioral activation, and social adjustment. Students then received either BA or standard programming. Results suggest that improved engagement in valued activities at mid-intervention was associated with increases in students’ perceptions of their own social adjustment. This, in turn, predicted steeper decreases in rates of depressive symptoms post-intervention. Findings also indicate that greater social adjustment improved the efficacy of a BA-based intervention in reducing depressive symptoms, but had no impact on depressive symptoms for students receiving the standard orientation programming.

向大学过渡与社会支持网络的显着变化和抑郁症状的伴随增加有关。在新的学术环境中更多地参与社交活动的一年级学生可能会体验到更大的整体幸福感。行为激活 (BA) 是一种以证据为基础的干预措施，可促进个人参与有价值的活动，并已被检查为一年级学生抑郁症状的一种可能的初级预防措施。然而，社会适应的重要作用，及其对学生活动水平的影响，尚未得到考虑。目前的研究是对嵌入第一年定向课程的基于 BA 的干预进行评估的研究的二次数据分析。该项目的目的是评估 BA 在改善社会适应方面的功效以及社会适应对随后的抑郁症状的影响。多样化的大学生样本（n  = 71）就读于大西洋中部地区的一所州立大学，报告了他们的抑郁、行为激活和社会适应水平。然后学生获得文学学士学位或标准编程。结果表明，在干预中期提高对有价值活动的参与度与学生对自身社会适应能力的感知增加有关。这反过来又预测了干预后抑郁症状发生率的急剧下降。研究结果还表明，更大的社会适应提高了基于 BA 的干预在减轻抑郁症状方面的效果，但对接受标准定向编程的学生的抑郁症状没有影响。