A study on the efficacy of Group PM+ on depressed mood in medical students

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Abstract Objective：The prevalence of mental health problems among medical students is higher than that of students in other disciplines and continues to increase, which may pose a risk to medical students in their subsequent studies and careers. This study adopts a Group Problem Manager Plus (PM+) intervention with medical students and investigates its effectiveness. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of Group PM+ at treating depressed mood and mental health illnesses, providing an important theoretical and experimental basis for new therapies to improve the physical and mental health of medical students. Methods: (1) Participants: Fifty-two participants were recruited through online distribution of the scale and randomly divided into an experimental group (received 5 weekly sessions of the Group PM+ intervention) and a control group (sharing psychology knowledge online only) after interviewing each participant individually. (2) Scales: The participants in both groups completed pre- and post-tests that included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), UCLA Loneliness Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), and Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C). Results: (1) The results of the repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant improvement in depressed mood in Group PM+ (F₁,₄₃ = 10.460, P = 0.002) and significantly improved anxiety (F₁,₄₃ = 19.007, P < 0.001). (2) The Group PM+ intervention also diminished feelings of loneliness due to depressed mood and partially improved alexithymia. Conclusions: (1) Group PM+ interventions can effectively treat depression and anxiety in medical students, alleviate feelings of loneliness, and reduce alexithymia in this population.