Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2025
A pilot randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention targeting positive valence systems function to prevent internalizing symptoms in college students.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Social anxiety and the positive valence system: A scoping review.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveDepression and anxiety are major mental health concerns for college students, and accessible, low-cost interventions are urgently needed. Although traditional treatments focus on negative emotions, there is growing support for the efficacy of positive emotion-focused interventions. We extended this prior work by developing a peer-delivered brief promoting positive emotion (BPPE) intervention that aims to enhance positive valence systems processes and reduce internalizing risk in college students. The goal of this study was to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial mental health outcomes of BPPE.
methodIn this pilot randomized controlled trial, 92 unselected college students (Mage = 19.44, SD = 1.15) completed measures of depressive and social anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, well-being, and positive and negative affect before being randomized to the BPPE intervention (n = 47) or a comparison study skills instruction (n = 45). Participants repeated the affect measure immediately after the intervention and repeated the rest of the measures 1 month later (n = 66). Intention-to-treat linear mixed-effect models were used to examine group differences.
resultsWe found that BPPE can be delivered with high fidelity by peer-trained skills coaches and was rated as highly satisfactory by participants. Positive affect increased pre- to immediately postintervention in the BPPE group. Significant group by time interactions were observed for depression, social anxiety, and perceived stress across the 1-month follow-up, such that BPPE appeared to buffer against worsening symptoms across time.
conclusionOur findings provide preliminary support for a brief, scalable, preventive intervention targeting positive valence systems functions among college students. Future studies warrant a fully powered randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
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