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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 6, 2023; 11(7): 1442-1457
Published online Mar 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i7.1442
Risk factors and digital interventions for anxiety disorders in college students: Stakeholder perspectives
Xin-Qiao Liu, Yu-Xin Guo, Yi Xu
Xin-Qiao Liu, Yu-Xin Guo, Yi Xu, School of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
Author contributions: Liu XQ designed the study; Liu XQ, Guo YX, and Xu Y wrote the manuscript and conducted the literature analyses; all authors contributed equally to this work and have approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xin-Qiao Liu, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education, Tianjin University, No. 135 Yaguan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, China. xinqiaoliu@pku.edu.cn
Received: November 24, 2022
Peer-review started: November 24, 2022
First decision: December 26, 2022
Revised: January 6, 2023
Accepted: February 10, 2023
Article in press: February 10, 2023
Published online: March 6, 2023
Processing time: 98 Days and 3.6 Hours
Abstract

The worldwide prevalence of anxiety disorders among college students is high, which negatively affects countries, schools, families, and individual students to varying degrees. This paper reviews the relevant literature regarding risk factors and digital interventions for anxiety disorders among college students from the perspectives of different stakeholders. Risk factors at the national and societal levels include class differences and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. College-level risk factors include the indoor environment design of the college environment, peer relationships, student satisfaction with college culture, and school functional levels. Family-level risk factors include parenting style, family relationship, and parental level of education. Individual-level risk factors include biological factors, lifestyle, and personality. Among the intervention options for college students' anxiety disorders, in addition to traditional cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, psychological counseling, and group counseling, digital mental health interventions are increasingly popular due to their low cost, positive effect, and convenient diagnostics and treatment. To better apply digital intervention to the prevention and treatment of college students' anxiety, this paper suggests that the different stakeholders form a synergy among themselves. The nation and society should provide necessary policy guarantees, financial support, and moral and ethical supervision for the prevention and treatment of college students' anxiety disorders. Colleges should actively participate in the screening and intervention of college students' anxiety disorders. Families should increase their awareness of college students' anxiety disorders and take the initiative to study and understand various digital intervention methods. College students with anxiety disorders should actively seek psychological assistance and actively accept and participate in digital intervention projects and services. We believe that in the future, the application of methods such as big data and artificial intelligence to improve digital interventions and provide individualized treatment plans will become the primary means of preventing and treating anxiety disorders among college students.

Keywords: College students; Anxiety disorders; Stakeholders; Digital intervention; Big data; Artificial intelligence

Core Tip: This paper reviews the literature on risk factors and digital interventions for college students' anxiety disorders from the perspectives of different stakeholders. The risk factors include class differences, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, peer relationships, student satisfaction with college culture, school functioning levels, parenting style, family relationships, parental education, personal lifestyle, and personality. Different stakeholders should play a corresponding role in the prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders. Methods such as big data and artificial intelligence applied to improve digital interventions and individualized treatment plans will become the primary means of prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders among college students.