Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faculty Publications Article Faculty Publications -Articles Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Keyan, Dharani; Dawson, Katie S.; Yadav, Srishti; Azevedo, Suzanna; Choi-Christou, Jasmine; Maliakkal, Deepthi J.; Pillai, Mohan K.; Chokani, Ritika; Thomas, Elizabeth; George, Tony S.; Bryant, Richard A. Title A name given to the resource Efficacy of a peer-delivered group psychological intervention to reduce psychological distress among university students in India: a randomised controlled trial using an active control condition; [Eficacia de una intervenci psicolica grupal realizada por pares para la reducci del malestar psicologico en estudiantes universitarios en India: ensayo clico aleatorizado empleando una condici de control activo] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 01-01-2025 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived European Journal of Psychotraumatology;Volume;16;Issue;1;Article No.;2503603; Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2503603" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2503603</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007297776?origin=resultslist" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007297776?origin=resultslist</a> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Keyan D., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Dawson K.S., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Yadav S., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Azevedo S., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Choi-Christou J., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Maliakkal D.J., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Pillai M.K., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Chokani R., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Thomas E., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; George T.S., CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Bryant R.A., University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Description An account of the resource Background: Brief psychological interventions in low-and-middle-income-countries (LMICs) have been typically tested against usual or enhanced usual care (EUC). This design precludes understanding of the role of non-specific factors in influencing outcomes. Objective: This study evaluated an adapted version of WHOs Problem Management Plus (gPM+), titled Coping with COVID, against an active control condition to reduce anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this two-arm, single-blind, randomised controlled trial, young adults aged 1824 years who screened positive for COVID-19 related psychological distress in Bengaluru (India) were randomly allocated to either Coping with COVID (n = 91) or non-directive Supportive Counselling (SC; n = 92) groups. Coping with COVID was a 6-sesion, group-based programme that taught coping strategies for stress. SC was a 6-sesion, group-based programme that offered non-directive support. The primary outcomes were anxiety and depression as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS) assessed at baseline, post-intervention, 2-months (primary outcome timepoint), and 6-months after treatment. Secondary outcomes included generalised worry, positive wellbeing, pandemic-related stress, and suicidal ideation. Results: Between October 2021 and December 2022, 183 participants were enrolled into the trial. Relative to SC, Coping with COVID did not lead to significant reductions in anxiety (mean difference 0.24 [95% CI, ?1.01,1.48], p&gt;.05), or depression (mean difference.03 [95% CI, ?1.19, 1.26], p&gt;.05). Similarly, there were no significant differences between conditions for all secondary outcomes. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the benefits of strategies that comprise transdiagnostic scalable psychological interventions may not surpass non-specific factors in driving symptom reduction. Clinical implications: There is a need to further evaluate the role of non-specific factors in scalable psychological programmes because focusing on these may have implications for ease of training and implementation. Trial registration:Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry identifier: ACTRN12621001064897. 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &amp; Francis Group. Subject The topic of the resource controlled trial; depression and anxiety; group support; non-specific factors; Scalable intervention; video teleconferencing Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Taylor and Francis Ltd. Relation A related resource ISSN: 20008066; Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Article Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Open Access; Gold Open Access; Green Open Access Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource online