Improving Emotional Wellbeing of University Students: Emotion Regulation

Official title

Improving Emotional Wellbeing of University Students Using Culturally Adapted Dialectic Behaviour Approaches in Group Settings" (UniWELL-D): Protocol of a Feasibility and Effectiveness Study

Overview

University students' psychological well-being is a growing public health concern. University life involves major psychological, social, and academic changes, increasing vulnerability to mental health issues. Group-based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) has been shown to support student well-being effectively. However, interventions tailored to specific cultural and contextual needs are more likely to be helpful. Western-based therapy models may not fully align with non-Western populations, such as students in Türkiye. In Türkiye, public mental health services are often limited to short psychiatric consultations, while therapy is typically accessed privately. University counselling centres offering free or low-cost therapy are therefore essential. Cost-effective interventions like group DBT may be especially valuable in these settings. To address this gap, culturally adapted DBT groups should be developed and evaluated for Turkish university students. This study is part of the UniWELL Project (sister to UniWELL-C) and examines the effectiveness of DBT-informed emotion regulation groups for Turkish students. Any Bogazici University student aged 18+ is eligible. Exclusion criteria include severe mental illness, high risk of harm to self/others, or scoring below threshold on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), as these students may require more individual support. The study includes participation in an 8-session DBT-informed group. Participants are expected to benefit from free psychological support, guided reflection, and shared experiences with peers. The research will also contribute to the evidence base for culturally adapted interventions. There are some risks: participants may feel overwhelmed during the sessions or while completing questionnaires. If so, support will be provided by a clinical psychology master's student and/or the group facilitator, under supervision of an experienced clinical psychologist. If a participant's risk increases, they will be referred to psychiatric services. An emergency contact will be requested to ensure safety if needed. The study will take place at Bogazici University through the Translational Clinical Psychology Lab, in collaboration with BUREM. It is expected to run for at least one year, possibly extending up to three years. The study is partially funded by the Bogazici Scientific Research Projects Unit (20022). Dr Ayse Akan (t-clinpsylab@bogazici.edu.tr) is the study lead and main contact.

Interventions

• Behavioral DBT-informed Group Psychotherapy for Emotion Regulation
  An 8-session Dialectical Behaviour Therapy informed emotion regulation psychotherapy group.

Primary outcome measures

• Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16) [Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention, and follow-up 6 weeks after the completion intervention]

Secondary outcome measures (6)

• Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Times (BEST) [Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention, and follow-up 6 weeks after the completion intervention]
• Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42) [Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention, and follow-up 6 weeks after the completion of the intervention]
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD7) [Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention, and follow-up 6 weeks after the completion of the intervention]
• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) [Time frame: Baseline, immediately after the intervention, and follow-up 6 weeks after the completion of the intervention]
• Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) [Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks]
• Qualitative data [Time frame: Up to 12 weeks following the completion of the intervention]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Must be a Bogazici University student.
• Must be 18 years or older.
• Must score above the threshold on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16).

Exclusion criteria

• Not Bogazici University student.
• Has serious and severe mental illness.
• High risk of self-harm/harm to others.
• Scoring below the threshold of on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16).
• Younger than 18 years old.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Non-randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Single blind

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

Turkey (Türkiye) · 2 centers

• Bogazici University Student Guidance and Psychological Counselling Centre (BUREM) — Istanbul
• Translational Clinical Psychology Lab — Istanbul

Publications

• Akan A, Korkut NH. Improving the emotional wellbeing of university students through culturally adapted cognitive and dialectical behavioral group interventions: protocol for two parallel feasibility and effectiveness studies. Transl Behav Med. 2026 Jan 7;16(1):ibag010. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibag010. PMID 41873829

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07096141 · 20022

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗