Effect of behavioral activation therapy on depressive mood and behavioral characteristics among subliminal depressed students

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of behavioral activation (BA) therapy on depressive mood and behavioral characteristics among subliminal depressed nursing students, and to provide a reference for effective mental health education to nursing students.

Methods A cluster sampling method was used to select 614 sophomore nursing students from a medical college in Jiangxi Province. Sixty subjects who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study, and divided into a control group and an intervention group using a random number table method, with 30 participants in each group. The control group received general mental health education, and the intervention group participated in a BA intervention on the basis of general mental health education. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Behavioral Activation For Depression Scale Short-Form (BADS-SF) were used to evaluate students’ depression status before, immediately after, and 1 month after the intervention, respectively.

Results The time effect, group effect, and time-group interaction of the CES-D, BDI-II and BADS-SF scores of the two groups of students were all statistically significant ( F = 82.78, 9.65, 69.92; 42.19, 10.52, 13.50; 15.59, 19.61, 8.49, P<0.01). Immediately after the intervention and 1 month after the intervention, the CES-D and BDI-II scores of the intervention group were significantly lower than those of the control group, and the BADS-SF score of the intervention group (14.63±4.63, 14.80±4.85; 11.23±4.98, 11.13±5.53) was significantly lower than that of the control group (22.67±6.70, 22.13±5.66; 17.57±9.59, 18.37±7.91); the differences were all statistically significant ( P<0.05).

Conclusion BA shows lasting effects on alleviating depressive symptoms among nursing students with subthreshold depression, improve their behavioral activation level, and have a lasting effect. Nursing educators can improve the depression of nursing students and improve their mental health through individual BA.

Abstract

【摘要】 目的 探究行为激活 (behavioral activation, BA) 疗法对护理专业阈下抑郁学生抑郁情绪和行为特征的应用效果, 为有效开展护理专业学生的心理健康教育提供参考依据。 方法 采用整群抽样方法选取江西省某医学髙等专科学校护理 专业二年级学生 614 名。将符合纳人标准的 60 名作为研究对象, 使用随机数字表法将其分为对照组和干预组, 每组各 30 名。对照组开展一般心理健康教育, 干预组在一般心理健康教育的基础上进行行为激活疗法干预。采用流调中心抑郁量 表 (CES-D)、贝克抑郁自评量表 (BDI-II) 和抑郁行为激活量表 (BADS-SF) 分别于干预前、干预结束时、干预后 1 个月进行 测评。 结果 两组学生 CES-D、BDI-II 和 BADS-SF 得分的时间效应、组别效应和时间与组别的交互作用均有统计学意义 ( F 值分别为 82.78, 9.65, 69.92; 42.19, 10.52, 13.50; 15.59, 19.61, 8.49, P 值均<0.01)。干预结束时、干预后 1 个月, 干预组 CES-D 和 BDI-II 得分 (14.63±4.63, 14.80±4.85; 11.23±4.98, 1L13±5.53) 均低于对照组 (22.67±6.70, 22.13±5.66; 17.57±9.59, 18.37±7.91), 干预组 BADS-SF 得分髙于对照组, 差异有统计学意义 ( P 值均<0.05)。 结论 BA 能有效改善护理专业 阈下抑郁学生的抑郁症状, 提髙其行为激活水平, 且具有持续性影响。护理教育工作者可以通过个体 BA 来改善护理专业 学生的抑郁情绪, 提升学生的心理健康水平。