Published online Jun 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i6.118944
Revised: January 29, 2026
Accepted: March 12, 2026
Published online: June 19, 2026
Processing time: 133 Days and 3 Hours
College students represent a high-risk population for social anxiety, which severely impacts their academic performance, social functioning, and mental health. Traditional interventions, such as mindfulness training and cognitive-behavioral therapy, have demonstrated limited effectiveness in addressing this issue. The positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accom
To explore the effects of applying comprehensive group counseling based on the PERMA model on social anxiety in college students.
One hundred college students with social anxiety from a university in the city were selected as research participants from October 2025 to December 2025. They were randomly divided into an intervention group (receiving comprehensive group counseling based on the PERMA model) and a control group (receiving no intervention), with 50 cases in each group. Comparisons were made between the two groups regarding social anxiety, self-esteem, interpersonal trust, interpersonal attraction, mental health level, interpersonal relationships, self-well-being, self-efficacy, and group satisfaction.
After the intervention, the intervention group exhibited significantly greater improvements across all measured outcomes compared to the control group. Social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale) decreased more substantially (42.62 ± 3.17 vs 53.28 ± 3.50), while self-esteem (Self-Esteem Scale: 24.38 ± 4.00 vs 19.56 ± 3.35) and interpersonal trust (Interpersonal Trust Scale: 52.64 ± 6.83 vs 48.78 ± 6.04) showed greater increases (all P < 0.05). Interpersonal attraction (Interpersonal Attraction Scale total: 67.74 ± 12.70 vs 58.80 ± 11.23) and all its sub-dimensions were significantly higher in the intervention group, as were conversational skills, social interaction ability, and total interpersonal relationship scores. Mental health symptoms (Symptom Checklist 90) were consistently lower across all dimensions in the intervention group, including anxiety, depression, and somatization (all P < 0.05). Additionally, self-efficacy (2.66 ± 0.30 vs 2.25 ± 0.32) and well-being (Index of Well-Being: 11.39 ± 2.53 vs 9.44 ± 2.64) were significantly elevated, and group satisfaction ratings across all aspects (e.g., guidance attitude, communication, environment) were markedly higher in the intervention group (all P < 0.05).
Comprehensive group counseling based on the PERMA model can improve social anxiety and mental health levels in college students, enhance their self-esteem, interpersonal trust, interpersonal attraction, conversational and social skills, and effectively increase their self-efficacy and well-being. Moreover, the participants were relatively satisfied with the overall counseling outcomes.
Core Tip: This randomized controlled trial demonstrates that a comprehensive group counseling program based on the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment model of positive psychology significantly alleviates social anxiety and improves mental health in college students. Beyond reducing anxiety symptoms, the intervention uniquely enhances multiple positive psychosocial domains, including self-esteem, interpersonal trust, interpersonal attraction, social skills, self-efficacy, and subjective well-being. This study provides a novel, effective, and well-accepted multi-dimensional psychological intervention strategy for addressing the prevalent issue of social anxiety in the student population.