Symposium
Transdiagnostic and Therapeutic Processes
Meirong Pan, M.D. (she/her/hers)
Child Psychiatrist
Peking University Sixth Hospital
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Xue Gao, M.D (she/her/hers)
fellow
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing 100191, China
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Xueying Liu, M.D (she/her/hers)
Fellow
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing 100191, China
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Zhongfang Fu, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Researcher
Peking University
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Lu Liu, Ph. D (she/her/hers)
Ph.D. Supervisor
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing 100191, China
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
haimei Li, Ph. D (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing 100191, China
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Yufeng Wang, Ph. D (she/her/hers)
Professor
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing 100191, China
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
qiujin qian, M.D.
Peking University Sixth Hospital
Peking university
beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Background: Currently, there is a lack of cost-effective and accessible intervention resources for Chinese adolescents with emotional disorders. The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A), which aims to apply transdiagnostic treatment principles to target core dysfunctions across a range of emotional disorders with a single protocol, could fill this gap. Yet, its utility in China remains unclear.
Methods: We culturally adapted the UP-A into a group format and added the parent intervention along with each adolescent session, and conducted a two-stage study. First, a pilot study (N=24) was performed to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. Second, a single-blind randomized controlled trial (N=48) was conducted to compare the UP-A combined with treatment as usual (UP-A+TAU) group to the treatment as usual (TAU) group. Multiple outcomes were evaluated at pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up, including both the individual level (emotional disorder severity, emotional symptoms, emotion regulation, resilience, executive function, quality of life) and the family level (parenting distress, family functioning).
Results: The pilot study demonstrated strong feasibility (low dropout, high attendance) and acceptability (sufficient participant satisfaction). Adolescents exhibited significant decreases in emotional disorder severity (g=-1.30 to -1.34), and significant improvements across multiple domains (|g|=0.33 to 2.17). In the RCT, the UP-A+TAU group achieved significantly greater reductions in clinician-rated emotional disorder severity (d = 0.37 to 1.59) than the TAU group. Significant improvements were also observed across individual and family-level outcomes (|d| = 0.23 to 1.73). The efficacy of the UP-A in both studies was significant starting at mid-treatment, and was maintained at post-treatment and 3-month follow-up.
Conclusion: This integrated research establishes the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a culturally adapted, concurrent parent-adolescent group UP-A in China. The scalable format reduces core symptoms and promotes multidimensional recovery, underscoring the critical role of parental involvement in adolescent mental health treatment within the Chinese cultural context. Offering a promising pathway to expand treatment access, future research should focus on implementation in diverse community settings and longitudinal studies to assess sustained benefits.