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NCT Number: NCT07115186

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

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.

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Key information

Age range

10 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Biancun middle school

Hebei, Baoding, 071603, China

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Liang Yachai

CONTACT

86+ 03125217599

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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

Treatment and study plan

Psychoeducation

Behavioral

Psychoeducation sessions for adolescents focus on essential topics like stress, emotional distress, and mental disorders, offering foundational knowledge to enhance their understanding and ability to manage these challenges effectively.

guided written therapy

Behavioral

In the guided writing intervention, students are asked to write about a recent event that triggered strong emotions on paper and, based on the requirements of each session, attempt to regulate their emotions. This approach aims to enhance students' abilities in emotional identification and emotion regulation.

wait-list condition

Behavioral

Participants will engage in their regular school activities, and after the intervention group completes the program, they will receive the same intervention content as the intervention group.

Primary outcomes

  1. PTSD for adolescents

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM-5 (CPSS-5) for adolescents and children (scores from 0 to 4, and total scores vary from 0 to 80). A higher score represents worse PTSD symptoms.

  2. Depression

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) for adults (score ranges from 0 to 3, and the total score varies from 0 to 27). A higher score indicates worse depression symptoms.

  3. Insomnia Severity

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The severity of insomnia symptoms will be assessed using the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). This 7-item self-report measurement evaluates the severity of insomnia symptoms, the level of satisfaction with sleep, interference with daily functioning, noticeability of impairment attributed to sleep problems, and the level of distress caused by sleep disturbance (score from 0 to 4, and total score vary from 0 to 32). Each item is rated on a 5-point scale, providing a comprehensive measure of insomnia severity.

  4. Generalized anxiety disorder

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7) for adults, adolescents, and children (scored from 0 to 3, and total score from 0 to 21). A higher score represents worse anxiety symptoms.

  5. Alexithymia

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 22-item Peking alexithymia scale measures thoughts and behaviors that prevent people from feeling or recognizing negative emotions on a 5-point Likert scale (1 to 5, and total scores vary from 22 to 110). A higher score represents more severe alexithymia.

  6. Emotion awareness

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 30-item Emotion awareness questionnaire measures emotion awareness on a 3-point Likert scale (1 to 3, with total scores ranging from 30 to 90). A higher score indicates better emotion awareness.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Resilience

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The Connor-Davidson resilience scale is a 10-item resilience measurement scale that measures resilience on a 5-point Likert scale (scores range from 0 to 4, and the total score varies from 0 to 40). A higher score represents better resilience.

  2. Self-esteem

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 10-item self-esteem measurement scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, measures self-esteem on a 4-point Likert scale (score from 0 to 3, and total score varies from 0 to 30), with higher scores indicating greater self-esteem.

  3. Subjective Happiness Scale

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 4-item subjective happiness scale measures happiness (score from 1 to 7, and total score vary from 4 to 28). A higher score represents a happier state.

  4. Frustration

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The 25-item frustration scale (score from 1 to 5, and total score varies from 24 to 120). A higher score represents less frustration.

  5. Irritability

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 17-item irritability measurement scale, the Peking irritability scale, measures impulsive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors on a 5-point Likert scale (score from 1 to 5, and total score varies from 17 to 85). A higher score represents higher irritability.

  6. Cognitive emotion regulation

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    An 18-item cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire measures the ability of emotion regulation on a 5-point Likert scale (1 to 5, and total scores vary from 18 to 90). A higher score represents more emotion regulation.

  7. Game Addiction Scale

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 7-item game addiction scale measures game addiction on a 5-point Likert scale (score from 1 to 5, and total score varies from 7 to 35), with higher scores indicating worse game addiction.

Other outcomes

  1. Suicide

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The suicidal behaviors questionnaire-revised (SBQ-R) for adolescents and children (total scores vary from 3 to 18). A higher score represents a higher suicide risk.

  2. Subjective Units of Distress Scale

    Time frame: During intervention (up to 4 days)

    A single item inquires about subjective distress on a 100-point scale. A higher score represents more subjective distress.

  3. Behavior performances

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 22-item behavior performance questionnaire measures various behavior performances such as study time, phone use, school performance, drinking alcohol, smoking, stealing, fighting, and lying.

  4. Adverse Childhood Experiences

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 33-item adverse events questionnaire asks about adverse events before 18, including self-harm, experiencing emotional abuse, experiencing physical abuse, feeling severe distress, mental illness events (e.g., panic attack), and physical injury, etc. The score of each item ranges from 0 to 1(0=no, 1=yes), 0 to 4, or 0 to 5 (a higher score indicates a more severe adverse event)

  5. Meaning in life

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 6-item meaning in life scale measures life meaning (score from 1 to 5, and total score varies from 6 to 30). A higher score represents a more life-meaning perception.

  6. Non-suicidal self-injury

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The non-suicidal self-injury assessment tool (NSSI-AT-Severity) for adolescents and children (total scores vary from 5 to 16). A higher score represents a worse self-injury situation.

  7. Somatic problems

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A somatic problems scale modified from PHQ-15, measuring various physical discomforts and pain on a 3-point Likert scale (score from 0 to 2). A higher score represents worse somatic problems.

  8. EQ-5D-3L

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The EQ-5D-3L was developed by EuroQol to measure the health-related quality of life with 6 items. The 1~5 items are coded from 1 to 5, and the last item scores from 1 to 100. The scale will then be calculated into a value for further calculation of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), which will be used in the cost-effectiveness analysis.

  9. Seeking for help

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 10-item help-seeking scale measures on a 7-point Likert scale (score from 1 to 7, and total score varies from 10 to 70), with higher scores indicating greater willingness to seek help from others.

  10. Positive Childhood Experiences

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A questionnaire measuring positive childhood experiences with 13 items(total scores vary from 0 to 64). A higher score represents a more positive childhood experience.

  11. Social support

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    The 12-item Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (score from 1 to 7, and total score varies from 12 to 84). A higher score represents better social support.

  12. Adverse events during RCT

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 6-item adverse events during RCT scale measures adverse events (score from 0 to 1, and total score varies from 0 to 6). A higher score represents adverse events.

  13. Parent-adolescent relationship

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    A 6-item parent-adolescent relationship scale measures parent-adolescent relationship (score from 0 to 4, and total score varies from 0 to 24). A higher score represents better parent-adolescent relationship.

  14. Shame

    Time frame: baseline, post treatment (2 weeks after baseline), 3 month after post treatment

    An 8-item shame scale measures shame (score from 0 to 4, and total score varies from 0 to 32). A higher score represents more shame.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Feng Junkai, MSc

CONTACT

86+15625013745

Zang Yinyin, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+86 15553201610

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Peking University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Enhancing Stress Resilience and Coping Skills Among Adolescents in Rural China Through School-Based Psychological Interventions: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Acronym: EASY

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Aug 11, 2025
Registry last updated
Aug 11, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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