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World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2026; 16(6): 118944
Published online Jun 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i6.118944
Published online Jun 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i6.118944
Alleviating social anxiety in college students: A comprehensive positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment model-based group counseling approach
Wei Ji, Department of Student’s Affairs, Cangzhou Medical College, Cangzhou 061001, Hebei Province, China
Wei Ji, Yu-Qing Wang, Yuan-Yuan Zhao, Wei Jiang, Dentistry, Cangzhou Medical College, Cangzhou 061001, Hebei Province, China
Wen-Chen Zhang, Department of Nephrology, Cangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Cangzhou 061001, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Ji W contributed to conceptualization, methodology, data curation, and writing - original draft; Ji W, Wang YQ, Zhao YY, Zhang WC, and Jiang W contributed to investigation; Wang YQ contributed to data analysis and manuscript review; Zhao YY contributed to data collection; Zhang WC contributed to and project administration; Jiang W contributed supervision. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Cangzhou Municipal Educational Science “14th Five-Year Plan” Planning Project, No. 2509460.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Cangzhou Medical College.
Clinical trial registration statement: It was a prospective behavioral intervention in an educational setting, categorized as a mental health promotion project rather than a clinical treatment trial for a medical disorder. Per International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines, registration is only required for trials evaluating health outcomes; since our study focused on educational and psychological outcomes in a normal population, it does not meet the mandatory registration criteria.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study. Participants were informed of the study’s purpose, procedures, potential risks, benefits, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available due to ethical restrictions, as they contain sensitive personal and psychological information. Data may be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to appropriate ethical approvals and data protection agreements.
Corresponding author: Yu-Qing Wang, Dentistry, Cangzhou Medical College, No. 39 Jiuhe West Road, Yunhe District, Cangzhou 061001, Hebei Province, China.
Received: January 15, 2026
Revised: January 29, 2026
Accepted: March 12, 2026
Published online: June 19, 2026
Processing time: 133 Days and 3 Hours
Revised: January 29, 2026
Accepted: March 12, 2026
Published online: June 19, 2026
Processing time: 133 Days and 3 Hours
Core Tip
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.