The efficacy of a culturally adapted iCBT program on depression among Chinese emerging adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Wanjun Li, Jingjing Huang, Chao Song, Danying Jing, Zhongfang Fu, Jianping Wang

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Article in Internet interventions, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Wanjun LiJiangsu Food & Pharmaceutical Science College, No. 4 Meicheng Road, Higher Education Park District, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, China.

Jingjing HuangKey Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China.

Chao SongKey Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China.

Danying JingMental Health Education Center, Jiangsu Normal University, No.101, Shanghai Road, Tongshan District, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.

Zhongfang FuBeijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, No.5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China.

Jianping WangKey Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Haidian District, Beijing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Depression is a prevalent mental health problem among young adults, with wide-ranging negative consequences. Digital psychological interventions can help address the mental health service gap; however, culturally adapted programs remain scarce. This study evaluated the efficacy of an internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) program, adapted to the Chinese university context, in alleviating depression and anxiety among college students. Methods: A three-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted with 504 university students with mild to moderate depression, who were randomly assigned to an intervention group, an active control group, or a waitlist control group. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Results: Compared with the waitlist control, the intervention group demonstrated greater reductions in depression (Cohen's Conclusions: The culturally adapted iCBT program demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing depression and anxiety among Chinese university students and offered a cost-effective alternative to local mental health resources. Alongside the active control condition, both approaches showed promising potential to support students in coping with depression.

Indexed as

CBTCulturally adapted interventionDepressionEmerging adults

Identifiers

PMID41969789

DOI10.1016/j.invent.2026.100939

PMCPMC13068847

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