4 - (SYM 38) DBT Skills Video Intervention for Chinese/chinese American College Students: Emotion Regulation Outcomes in Context

Asian Americans (AA) have low rates of mental health treatment seeking and retention. This treatment underutilization has led many to argue that existing evidence-supported treatments (ESTs) need to be adapted to be compatible with their cultural beliefs and practices. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) integrates Western behavioral intervention and Zen Buddhist philosophies (e.g., acceptance), which may be culturally relevant to AA subgroups heavily influenced by Buddhist traditions (e.g., Chinese Americans). However, the effectiveness of DBT among AA remains understudied. Combining the content of this intervention with innovative dissemination methods may extend mental health resources to AA who underutilize traditional psychotherapy.

In the current study, we examined outcomes of a 14-day DBT skills intervention delivered via brief animated videos, in English or Mandarin, among Chinese/Chinese American college students. The sample consisted of 91 participants (M_age= 19.87, SD = 1.82; 58.24% cis-woman) interested in improving emotion regulation but not receiving any mental health services. They completed daily assessment for four weeks and were randomly assigned to receive assessment only (n = 29) or receive one skills video per day for 14 days (n = 52) starting the second week. We assessed emotion regulation outcomes by measuring how distressing emotions were, self-efficacy of managing emotions, perceived effectiveness of emotion regulation, and context (i.e., reasons) for emotional distress. The most frequently endorsed reason for emotional distress was academic stress. 

We conducted multilevel analysis where daily observations were nested within participants. According to preliminary 3-way interaction analyses, self-efficacy decreased from pre- to post- intervention in the control group when academic stress was present, whereas self-efficacy remained steady in the intervention condition regardless of the presence of academic stress. Additionally, relative to the control group who reported decreased effectiveness from pre- to post-intervention regardless of academic stress, the intervention group did not report a similar worsening in effectiveness when academic stress was present. Academic stress was not found to affect how distressing the emotions felt. Together, the findings provide support for the utility of DBT skills videos in maintaining self-efficacy and effectiveness of emotion regulation among Chinese/Chinese American college students, particularly when under academic-related stress.