School-Based Intervention to Enhance Resilience and Stress Coping in Rural Chinese Adolescents (EASY)

Peking University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Stress, Emotional; Stress-related Mental Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: wait-list condition; Behavioral: guided written therapy; Behavioral: Psychoeducation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07115186

School interv. rural Adolscent

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based psychological interventions in improving stress resilience and coping skills among adolescents in rural China. The intervention seeks to reduce stress-related mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, measured using validated instruments such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM-5 (CPSS-5). (See Appendix for full scale descriptions.)

Participants will be recruited from rural middle schools and randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait-list control group. The intervention consists of four sessions delivered over one week. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and again at a 3-month and 6-month follow-ups.

Researchers will use multilevel modeling (MLM) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine potential mediators and moderators of intervention effects, including emotion recognition, alexithymia, and coping strategies. indings are expected to provide evidence on the effectiveness and mechanisms of an existing, school-based psychological intervention tailored to the needs of adolescents in underserved rural settings.

Enrollment: 850 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 18 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Currently enrolled middle school students attending regular school classes
• Sufficient functional capacity in hearing, speaking, reading, and writing to participate in intervention activities and assessments.

Exclusion criteria

• Individuals assessed to be at high risk of suicide, based on screening or clinical judgment
• Diagnosis of severe mental disorders (e.g., psychotic disorders, severe mood disorders) that would interfere with participation or require more intensive clinical care

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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850 participants in 2 patient groups

TAU + delayed intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in this group will receive treatment as usual (TAU), which includes standard school-based support services. They will not receive the study intervention during the trial period but will be offered the full intervention after final outcome assessments. This design enables comparison between the intervention and existing standard care, while ensuring ethical access to the intervention for all participants.

Treatment:

Behavioral: wait-list condition

intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the intervention group will receive a structured psychological program consisting of four sessions delivered over the course of one week. Each session is 40 minutes in duration and includes approximately 20 minutes of psychoeducation followed by 20 minutes of a guided writing intervention. The sessions will cover the following core themes: ① chronic stress and emotional regulation, ② emotional identification and acceptance, ③ cognitive emotion regulation, and ④ the cognitive triangle. Interventions will be administered by trained graduate students in clinical psychology from Peking University. These facilitators will receive specialized training on the intervention protocol, and will conduct pre-intervention assessments and participate in regular supervision. All sessions will be audio and video recorded to monitor treatment fidelity, ensure adherence to the intervention manual, and support supervision and quality assurance procedures.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation

Behavioral: guided written therapy