Effect of dialectical behavior group therapy on the anxiety and depression of medical students under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control for the COVID-19 epidemic: a randomized study.
BACKGROUND
During the epidemic, the mental health of college students was generally poor, especially anxiety and depression, which should be treated using counseling and intervention. This study aimed to observe the influence of dialectical behavior therapy on the anxiety and depression of medical students during the normalization of the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.


METHODS
A total of 26 medical students (experimental group) were treated with dialectical behavior therapy intervention for 4 weeks. Changes in depression, anxiety, and stress levels were assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, the Somatic Self-rating Scale (SSS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). This group was compared with 26 medical students (control group) without intervention.


RESULTS
The value-added scores of the PHQ-9 (t=2.543, P=0.014) and GAD-7 scales (t=3.790, P=0.000) in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, while in the SSS scale, the value-added score of the depressive symptoms subscale (t=2.234, P=0.030) in the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. For the total score of the PSS-10 scale (t=2.435, P=0.018), the value-added score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The intervention of dialectical behavior therapy can effectively alleviate the depression and anxiety of medical students during the normalization of epidemic prevention and control.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100048784.
['Liang|Lizhen|L|', 'Feng|Ling|L|', 'Zheng|Xiaoming|X|', 'Wu|Ying|Y|', 'Zhang|Chunhua|C|', 'Li|Jingjing|J|']
D001007:Anxiety D001008:Anxiety Disorders D000086382:COVID-19 D000077252:Dialectical Behavior Therapy D058872:Epidemics D006801:Humans D011615:Psychotherapy, Group D000086402:SARS-CoV-2 D013337:Students, Medical
medical students epidemic Dialectical behavior therapy negative emotions