A pilot randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention targeting positive valence systems function to prevent internalizing symptoms in college students.

IF 4.5 1区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Journal of consulting and clinical psychology Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1037/ccp0000916

Yinru Long, Christian A L Bean, Lisa Venanzi, Emma Boldwyn, Anh Dao, Lindsay Dickey, Maya Jackson, Rebecca Mueller, Samantha Pegg, Mae Winglass, Vanessa Weis, Autumn Kujawa

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: Depression and anxiety are major mental health concerns for college students, and accessible, low-cost interventions are urgently needed. Although traditional treatments focus on negative emotions, there is growing support for the efficacy of positive emotion-focused interventions. We extended this prior work by developing a peer-delivered brief promoting positive emotion (BPPE) intervention that aims to enhance positive valence systems processes and reduce internalizing risk in college students. The goal of this study was to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial mental health outcomes of BPPE.

Method: In this pilot randomized controlled trial, 92 unselected college students (Mage = 19.44, SD = 1.15) completed measures of depressive and social anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, well-being, and positive and negative affect before being randomized to the BPPE intervention (n = 47) or a comparison study skills instruction (n = 45). Participants repeated the affect measure immediately after the intervention and repeated the rest of the measures 1 month later (n = 66). Intention-to-treat linear mixed-effect models were used to examine group differences.

Results: We found that BPPE can be delivered with high fidelity by peer-trained skills coaches and was rated as highly satisfactory by participants. Positive affect increased pre- to immediately postintervention in the BPPE group. Significant group by time interactions were observed for depression, social anxiety, and perceived stress across the 1-month follow-up, such that BPPE appeared to buffer against worsening symptoms across time.

Conclusion: Our findings provide preliminary support for a brief, scalable, preventive intervention targeting positive valence systems functions among college students. Future studies warrant a fully powered randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

查看原文本刊更多论文

一项针对正价系统功能的短期干预以预防大学生内化症状的先导随机对照试验。

目的：抑郁和焦虑是大学生的主要心理健康问题，迫切需要可获得、低成本的干预措施。虽然传统的治疗方法侧重于消极情绪，但越来越多的人支持积极情绪干预的有效性。本研究扩展了先前的研究成果，开发了一种同伴传递的简短促进积极情绪（BPPE）干预方法，旨在增强大学生的正效系统过程并降低内化风险。本研究的目的是检验BPPE的可行性、可接受性和初始心理健康结果。方法：在本随机对照试验中，92名未入选的大学生（Mage = 19.44, SD = 1.15）完成了抑郁和社交焦虑症状、感知压力、幸福感、积极情绪和消极情绪的测量，然后随机分为BPPE干预组（n = 47）或比较学习技能指导组（n = 45）。参与者在干预后立即重复影响测量，并在1个月后重复其余测量（n = 66）。意向-治疗线性混合效应模型用于检验组间差异。结果：我们发现，经过同行培训的技能教练可以高保真地提供BPPE，并获得参与者的高度满意。BPPE组的积极情绪在干预前和干预后立即增加。在为期1个月的随访中，观察到抑郁、社交焦虑和感知压力的显著组间相互作用，因此BPPE似乎可以缓冲症状的恶化。结论：本研究结果为针对大学生正价系统功能的短期、可扩展的预防性干预提供了初步支持。未来的研究需要一个完全有力的随机对照试验来测试干预的有效性。（PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA，版权所有）。

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来源期刊

Journal of consulting and clinical psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

9.00

自引率

3.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology® (JCCP) publishes original contributions on the following topics: the development, validity, and use of techniques of diagnosis and treatment of disordered behaviorstudies of a variety of populations that have clinical interest, including but not limited to medical patients, ethnic minorities, persons with serious mental illness, and community samplesstudies that have a cross-cultural or demographic focus and are of interest for treating behavior disordersstudies of personality and of its assessment and development where these have a clear bearing on problems of clinical dysfunction and treatmentstudies of gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation that have a clear bearing on diagnosis, assessment, and treatmentstudies of psychosocial aspects of health behaviors. Studies that focus on populations that fall anywhere within the lifespan are considered. JCCP welcomes submissions on treatment and prevention in all areas of clinical and clinical–health psychology and especially on topics that appeal to a broad clinical–scientist and practitioner audience. JCCP encourages the submission of theory–based interventions, studies that investigate mechanisms of change, and studies of the effectiveness of treatments in real-world settings. JCCP recommends that authors of clinical trials pre-register their studies with an appropriate clinical trial registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, ClinicalTrialsRegister.eu) though both registered and unregistered trials will continue to be considered at this time.