Prado Aneliana da Silva, Kohls Elisabeth, Baldofski Sabrina, Rummel-Kluge Christine, Freitas Joanneliese de Lucas
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Department of Psychology, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil.
JMIR Form Res. 2023 Oct 13;7:e44887. doi: 10.2196/44887.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 aggravated already existing difficulties and added new challenges for students. Owing to the gap between needed and available psychological services, group interventions may offer a helpful strategy for student mental health promotion.
This study aimed to investigate the acceptability and feasibility of a 4-week online support group program designed for mental health promotion tailored to graduate students at a Brazilian public university in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2022 to June 2022).
Participants in the program took part in online support groups based on a pilot group facilitated by a trained clinical psychologist. Self-administered, standardized web-based questionnaires were assessed at the baseline (T0; before the intervention), postintervention (T2), and follow-up (T3; after 4-6 weeks) time points. We measured sociodemographic variables, treatment credibility and expectancy (Credibility and Expectancy Questionnaire), satisfaction (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire), negative effects of the intervention (Negative Effects Questionnaire), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]), and participants' quality of life (abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment). A 9-answer option questionnaire and open-ended questions also assessed the group's perceived positive and negative outcomes.
The total sample comprised 32 participants. Most (23/32, 72%) were doctoral students. Credibility and expectancy scores were high. Participants' satisfaction (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire) with the program was high at the postintervention (T2) and follow-up (T3) evaluations (T2: mean 28.66, SD 3.02; T3: mean 27.91, SD 3.02). Most participants reported that they could learn from other participants' experiences (T2: 29/32, 91%; T3: 27/32, 84%) and felt encouraged to take better care of themselves (T2: 22/32, 69%; T3: 24/32, 75%). None of the participants reported that they had no benefits from the program. The PHQ-9 scores showed mild to moderate depressive symptoms (mean 9.59, SD 6.34), whereas the answers of 9% (3/32) of the participants to the PHQ-9 item 9 indicated suicidality at baseline (T0). Finally, the 4 domains of quality of life (physical: P=.01; psychological: P=.004; social: P=.02; and environmental: P<.001) showed a slight and statistically significant improvement at the postintervention evaluation (T0: mean 57.03, SD 15.39 to 59.64, SD 17.21; T2: mean 64.32, SD 11.97 to 68.75, SD 8.87).
Online support groups for the mental health promotion of graduate students are feasible and can be especially useful for universities with students allocated to different cities. They are also satisfactory and may positively influence participants' quality of life. Therefore, they can be considered a helpful mental health promotion strategy in the educational context. Further studies could evaluate these (or similar) programs under nonpandemic circumstances.
2020年新冠疫情的爆发加剧了学生们原本就面临的困难，并带来了新的挑战。由于所需心理服务与可用心理服务之间存在差距，团体干预可能为促进学生心理健康提供一种有益的策略。
本研究旨在调查在新冠疫情背景下（2022年5月至2022年6月），为巴西一所公立大学的研究生量身定制的为期4周的在线支持团体心理健康促进项目的可接受性和可行性。
该项目的参与者参加了由一名经过培训的临床心理学家主持的试点在线支持团体。在基线（T0；干预前）、干预后（T2）和随访（T3；4 - 6周后）时间点评估自我管理的标准化网络问卷。我们测量了社会人口统计学变量、治疗可信度和期望（可信度和期望问卷）、满意度（客户满意度问卷）、干预的负面影响（负面影响问卷）、抑郁症状（患者健康问卷 - 9 [PHQ - 9]）以及参与者的生活质量（世界卫生组织生活质量评估简表）。一份有9个答案选项的问卷和开放式问题也评估了团体感知到的积极和消极结果。
总样本包括32名参与者。大多数（23/32，72%）是博士生。可信度和期望得分较高。在干预后（T2）和随访（T3）评估中，参与者对该项目的满意度（客户满意度问卷）较高（T2：均值28.66，标准差3.02；T3：均值27.91，标准差3.02）。大多数参与者报告他们可以从其他参与者的经历中学习（T2：29/32，91%；T3：27/32，84%），并感到受到鼓励更好地照顾自己（T2：22/32，69%；T3：24/32，75%）。没有参与者报告他们从该项目中没有受益。PHQ - 9得分显示出轻度至中度抑郁症状（均值9.59，标准差6.34），而9%（3/32）的参与者对PHQ - 9第9项的回答表明在基线（T0）时有自杀倾向。最后，生活质量的4个领域（身体：P = 0.01；心理：P = 0.004；社会：P = 0.02；环境：P < 0.001）在干预后评估中显示出轻微且具有统计学意义的改善（T0：均值57.03，标准差15.39至59.64，标准差17.21；T2：均值64.32，标准差11.97至68.75，标准差8.87）。
针对研究生心理健康促进的在线支持团体是可行的，对于学生分布在不同城市的大学尤其有用。它们也令人满意，并且可能对参与者的生活质量产生积极影响。因此，在教育背景下，它们可被视为一种有益的心理健康促进策略。进一步的研究可以在非疫情情况下评估这些（或类似）项目。
