Effect of group counseling integrating tea drinking on mental health improvement of college students / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the intervention effect of group counseling integrating teadrinking on depression, social avoidance and distress, coping styles and selfesteem among college students, so as to provide references for promoting the psychological health of students.@*Methods@#From March to June 2021, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit 46 college students from a university in Nanjing for intervention project. There were 23 students in intervention group and control group, respectively. The intervention was conducted for 2.5 hours per week across a 6 week period. The intervention group received two sessions of group counseling that incorporated teadrinking experience, and the sessions involved tea knowledge explanation, observation and learning, embodied experience, emotional expression, interpersonal assistance and emotional support, cultural customs and life integration. After the intervention was completed, the control group received onetime group counseling that integrated teadrinking. The Wilcoxon difference test and Mann-Whitney U test were performed to compare the scores of each scale within and between the groups, and the χ2 test was used to compare the detection rates.@*Results@#There were no statistically significant differences in the scores of positive coping, negative coping, selfesteem, social avoidance and distress between the intervention group and the control group (Z=-1.20, -0.33, -0.35, 1.31,P>0.05). There were statistically significant differences in positive coping styles, selfesteem, social avoidance and distress between the intervention group and the control group after the intervention(27.70±5.60，22.05±4.30；30.52±3.63，28.27±4.06；7.43±7.38，13.64±6.79) (Z=-3.31, -2.10, 3.22, P<0.05). The intervention group showed statistically significant differences in social avoidance and distress scores before and after the intervention(11.96±7.47,7.43±7.38) (Z=-2.88), and the depression detection rate decreased(60.9%，30.4%) (χ2=4.29) (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in positive coping, negative coping, selfesteem, social avoidance and distress scores, and depression detection rate between the control group before and after the intervention (Z/χ2=-0.28, -0.42, -1.24, -1.25；1.39, P>0.05). The followup results 1year later showed that there was a statistically significant difference in social avoidance and distress(6.57±6.21,14.16±9.22), and in the detection rates of depression(21.7%,52.2%) between the intervention group and the control group (Z/χ2=2.70,4.57,P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Group counseling integrating teadrinking could improve interpersonal relationships, emotional states, selfesteem levels and coping strategies among college students. Group psychological counseling that incorporates teadrinking can be adopted to improve the mental health status of college students.