Improving Emotional Wellbeing of University Students: Emotion Regulation

NCT ID: NCT07096141

Last Updated: 2025-12-22

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

40 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-03-05

Study Completion Date

2027-12-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

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 ([email protected]) is the study lead and main contact.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Emotion Regulation

Keywords

Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.

emotion regulation mental health DBT group therapy university student mental health culturally adapted psychotherapy

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Single-centre interventional non-blinded mixed-methods non-randomised pre-post design with a waitlist control and 6 weeks follow-up feasibility and psychotherapy effectiveness study.
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

DBT Experimental Arm

An 8-session Dialectical Behaviour Therapy informed emotional regulation group psychotherapy will be offered to the experimental group of about 40 university students who volunteered and scored above the threshold on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

DBT-informed Group Psychotherapy for Emotion Regulation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

An 8-session Dialectical Behaviour Therapy informed emotion regulation psychotherapy group.

DBT Waitlist Arm

DBT waitlist control

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

DBT-informed Group Psychotherapy for Emotion Regulation

An 8-session Dialectical Behaviour Therapy informed emotion regulation psychotherapy group.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

DBT Group DBT

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

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

Exclusion Criteria

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

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Bogazici University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Ayse Akan

Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Ayse Akan, DClinPsych

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Bogazici University

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Bogazici University Student Guidance and Psychological Counselling Centre (BUREM)

Istanbul, , Turkey (Türkiye)

Site Status RECRUITING

Translational Clinical Psychology Lab

Istanbul, , Turkey (Türkiye)

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Turkey (Türkiye)

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Ayse Akan, DClinPsych

Role: CONTACT

Phone: +902123597054

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Ayse Akan, DClinPsych

Role: primary

Ayse Akan, DClinPsych

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

20022

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id