Evaluating brief digital interventions for university student mental health in mainland China: a randomized trial

Mental health disorders are prevalent and burdensome, especially among university students. The need for mental health services, however, outstrips the supply, necessitating the exploration of new models of treatment. We investigated several brief and scalable digital mental health interventions among university students in mainland China.

These interventions included two different single-session interventions and brief videos based on dialectical behavior therapy. We tested these interventions in a large trial (modified intention-to-treat analysis sample, n = 1872) that combined randomized and participant preference arms. Participants were randomized into either a randomized arm with five conditions (four intervention conditions plus waitlist control) or a participant preference arm where participants received choice for two conditions.

Primary outcome measures were based on the hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology. Using hierarchical Bayesian analysis, we found strong support that the paid DBT video condition had a small impact, but no strong evidence for the impact of other conditions. This study demonstrates that brief interventions can have reliable, but small, impacts.

However, not all interventions were beneficial. Registry: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, TRN: ChiCTR2400084558, Registration date: 20 May 2024. We acknowledge the efforts of the research assistants at Beijing Normal University who supported data collection and preparation.

This study was supported by funding from the Cyrus Tang Foundation. The Cyrus Tang Foundation was not involved in the design, conduct, analysis, or reporting of this study. SMS has received consulting payments from Boehringer Ingelheim and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the Headspace Scientific Advisory Board, for which he receives compensation.

The other authors do not have a competing interest. These authors contributed equally: Stephen M. These authors jointly supervised this work: Stephen M.