Abstract Background In recent years, the incidence rate of college students' affective disorder has risen significantly, which has become an urgent mental health problem in the higher education system. Existing research mostly focuses on crisis intervention, with insufficient evaluation of the effectiveness of long-term tracking and multidimensional support models. To address the increasingly prominent issue of emotional disorders among college students and explore a more effective mental health support model, a "four level linkage" intervention system has been proposed for evaluation. Methods The study employed a mixed-methods research approach, using a sample of 300 students diagnosed with emotional disorders at a university, randomly divided into an intervention group (150 participants) and a control group (150 participants). The intervention group implemented a "four-tier linkage" support system, comprising: 1. Primary prevention (monthly screening for emotional fluctuations by student mental health committee members and dormitory leaders), 2. Secondary intervention (individual cognitive behavioral therapy and group counseling provided by psychological counselors), 3. Tertiary reinforcement (collaborative medication treatment plans developed with psychiatrists), and 4. Quaternary consolidation (joint home-school rehabilitation planning). The control group received only routine psychological counseling services. Assessments were conducted using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and the World Health Organization Five-item Well-Being Index (WHO-5) before and after the intervention. Results The test results of various indicators for the intervention group and the control group are shown in Table 1. In Table 1, after two interventions, the intervention group's PHQ-9 decreased from 18.2% to 9.1%, a decrease of 50.0%, while the control group's decrease was only 20.0%; The GAD-7 in the intervention group decreased from 16.5% to 7.8%, a decrease of 52.7%, while the decrease in the control group was only 24.7%; The WHO-5 of the intervention group increased from 45.3% to 78.6%, an increase of 73.5%, while the WHO-5 of the control group only increased from 46.1% to 62.4%, an increase of only 39.7%. This indicates that multi-level intervention measures have a significant improvement effect on depressive symptoms, can effectively alleviate anxiety symptoms, and can significantly enhance the happiness of students with emotional disorders. Discussion Psychological health services in the higher education system can significantly improve the psychological symptoms of students with emotional disorders and enhance their academic and social functioning through multi-level interventions. Combining cognitive-behavioral therapy can effectively alleviate depressive symptoms, introducing psychiatric joint diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve anxiety status, and through home-school collaboration, the happiness index can be significantly improved. We hope that in the future, universities can establish a comprehensive psychological service system and strengthen collaboration between families and schools, as well as interdisciplinary cooperation. Funding No. 20BRK004.
Hongbin Huang (Sun,) studied this question.