Clinical trial NCT04998890: Improving Mental Health of Chinese University Students in Hong Kong: Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioural Intervention
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for University Students in Hong Kong
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Adventure-based Cognitive Behavioral Intervention
Lead sponsor: Hong Kong Baptist University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Research Grants Council, Hong Kong
First posted: 2021-08-10
Enrollment: 458
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Randomized controlled trial
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This study delivered an adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention program to a group of Hong Kong university students. The program effectiveness was evaluated by a randomized controlled trial in reducing psychological distress and improving mental health of these students. The 3-month maintenance effect was also tested.

Detailed description: University students are vulnerable to mental health problems due to the various challenges they have to face in university life. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of university counseling programs in Hong Kong. This project aims at developing and systematically evaluating a culturally adapted and adventure-based cognitive behavioral intervention (aCBI) program to decrease psychological distress and improve various mental health outcomes for Chinese university students in Hong Kong. The aCBI program was delivered in a form of general education course in a university setting. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was adopted. The program was evaluated its effectiveness in reducing psychological distress, perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, negative thoughts and negative emotions and increasing positive thoughts and positive emotions.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* be of Chinese nationality
* be studying in undergraduate programs at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), as the aCBI program will be provided in the form of a general education course at this university
* have GHQ-12 scores of 2-10 (0-0-1-1) (i.e., mild to moderate levels of psychological distress)
* be willing to complete the entire process of the project.

Exclusion Criteria:

* have GHQ-12 scores of 0-1 (i.e., a low level of psychological distress) or 11-12 (i.e., a high level of psychological distress)
* have one or more psychosis
* have experienced severe depression with suicidal attempts/ideation in the past 3 months, as diagnosed by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist.

Primary outcomes:
measure: General Health Questionnaire-12
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: General Health Questionnaire-12
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: General Health Questionnaire-12
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perceived Stress Scale
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Perceived Stress Scale
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Perceived Stress Scale
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Beck Depression Inventory
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Beck Depression Inventory
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Beck Depression Inventory
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Beck Anxiety Inventory
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Beck Anxiety Inventory
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Beck Anxiety Inventory
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Chinese Affect Scale
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Chinese Affect Scale
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Chinese Affect Scale
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Chinese Making Sense of Adversity Scale
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
measure: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale
timeFrame: baseline: before the intervention program starts
measure: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale
timeFrame: post-test: 1 month upon completion of the intervention program
measure: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale
timeFrame: 3-month follow-up test: 3 months after completion of the intervention program
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: Jiayan Pan
Study officials:
affiliation: Hong Kong Baptist University
name: Jiayan Pan, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: