A study on the efficacy of Group PM+ on depressed mood in medical students

Abstract

Objective：The prevalence of mental health problems among medical students is higher than that of students in other disciplines and continues to increase, which may pose a risk to medical students in their subsequent studies and careers. This study adopts a Group Problem Manager Plus (PM+) intervention with medical students and investigates its effectiveness. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of Group PM+ at treating depressed mood and mental health illnesses, providing an important theoretical and experimental basis for new therapies to improve the physical and mental health of medical students. Methods: (1) Participants: Fifty-two participants were recruited through online distribution of the scale and randomly divided into an experimental group (received 5 weekly sessions of the Group PM+ intervention) and a control group (sharing psychology knowledge online only) after interviewing each participant individually. (2) Scales: The participants in both groups completed pre- and post-tests that included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), UCLA Loneliness Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), and Chinese version of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C). Results: (1) The results of the repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant improvement in depressed mood in Group PM+ (F_1,43 = 10.460, P = 0.002) and significantly improved anxiety (F_1,43 = 19.007, P < 0.001). (2) The Group PM+ intervention also diminished feelings of loneliness due to depressed mood and partially improved alexithymia. Conclusions: (1) Group PM+ interventions can effectively treat depression and anxiety in medical students, alleviate feelings of loneliness, and reduce alexithymia in this population.