Emotion regulation and mental health in college students during coronavirus pandemic lockdowns

Table 4 Proposed intervention framework based on review evidence

Intervention level	Target	Example strategies	Theoretical basis
Universal prevention (all students)	Promote adaptive ER, reduce stigma	Curriculum-integrated psychoeducation on stress management and ER skills[5,26]. Campus-wide wellness campaigns promoting physical activity[10], sleep[55,59], hobbies[18]. Training faculty in psychological first aid and referral pathways	Mental health literacy; positive psychology; behavioral activation models[35]
Selected prevention (at-risk groups)	Address specific risk factors	Workshops for students with financial stress (financial literacy, budgeting)[7,8,18]. Skills groups for emotional eating[23,24] or problematic internet use[20,21]. Support groups for international students, low-income students[18,51]	Cognitive-behavioral therapy; dialectical behavior therapy skills
Indicated intervention/treatment (symptomatic students)	Treat clinical symptoms	Increased access to telehealth cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, or unified protocol[34]. Prescription and guidance for use of evidence-based mental health apps. Collaboration with campus health services for medication management if needed	Transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy[33,34]; pharmacotherapy
Environmental/policy	Modify structural determinants	Flexible academic policies (deadline extensions, pass/fail options)[16,38,54]. Emergency funds and grants for students in financial need[18,56]. Ensuring affordable, reliable internet and suitable study spaces. Creating and subsidizing opportunities for safe social/recreational engagement[4,9,17,18]	Socioecological model; public health approach

ER: Emotion regulation.