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Table 4 Summary of outcomes of 22 RCTs targeting health behaviours

From: Health behaviour interventions to improve mental health outcomes for students in the university setting: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Study

Intervention

Data Collection Timepoints (weeks)

Health Behaviour Outcome

Mental Health Outcome

Diet

P.A

S.B

Sleep

Alcohol Intake

Smoking

Drug Use

Depression

Anxiety

Stress

Psychological Wellbeing

General Wellbeing

PTSD

Intervention vs. Control

Hahn,

2021

Diet

0,4

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

x

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

Sharp,

2016

Exercise

0,12

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

Taylor, 2014

Sleep

0, 6, 13

x

x

x

S- 6wks only

x

x

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Freeman,

2017

Sleep

0,3,10,22

x

x

x

S

x

x

x

S

S

x

S

x

x

Hershner,

2018

Sleep

0, 1, 8

x

x

x

S- 8wks only

x

x

x

S-8 weeks only

x

x

x

x

x

Huberty,

2019

Sleep

0,8,12

NS

NS

x

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

S

x

x

x

Spanhel,

2022

Sleep

0,4,12

x

x

x

S

x

x

x

S- 12 weeks only

NS

NS

x

x

x

Murphy,

2012

Alcohol Intake

0,4, 20 or 30

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Pengpid,

2013

Alcohol Intake

0,26,48

x

x

x

x

S

NS

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

NS

Murphy,

2019

Alcohol Intake

0, 4, 26, 52, 69

x

x

x

x

S

x

x

S

S

NS

x

x

x

Murphy,

2019

Alcohol Intake

0, 4, 26, 52, 69

x

x

x

x

S

x

x

S

S

NS

x

x

x

Paulus, 2021

Alcohol Intake

0,1,4,13

x

x

x

x

S- 13 weeks only

x

x

NS

NS

x

x

x

x

Shuai,

2022

Alcohol Intake

0,2

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

S

NS

x

x

x

x

Buckner,

2020

Drug Use

0,2

x

x

x

x

x

x

S

x

S

x

S

x

x

Greene,

2012

Diet and Exercise

0, 13, 65

S

S

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

S

S

x

x

Kattelman,2014

Diet and Exercise

0, 13, 64

S

NS

x

S

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

Duan,

2017

Diet and Exercise

0, 8, 12

S

NS

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Duan,

2022

Diet and Exercise

0,4,8,12

S

S

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Duan,

2022

Diet and Exercise

0,4,8,12

S

S

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Sandrick, 2017

Diet, Exercise, Sleep

0,8

NS

S

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

Yang,

2020

Diet, Exercise, Sleep

0,30

S

S

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

Yan,

2023

Diet, Exercise, Sleep

0,8

x

S

x

NS

x

x

x

x

NS

x

NS

x

x

Intervention vs. Intervention

Okajima, 2022

Sleep

0,8

x

x

x

S

x

x

x

S

S

NS

x

x

x

Duan,

2022

Diet and Exercise

0,4,8,12

S

NS

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

Whatnall,

2019

Diet vs. Alcohol Intake

0,13

S

x

x

x

NS

x

x

x

x

x

x

NS

x

Murphy,

2019

Alcohol Intake

0, 4, 26, 52, 69

x

x

x

x

NS

x

x

NS

NS

NS

x

x

x

  1. All significant outcomes were in the hypothesized direction and have been highlighted in bold text. P.A – physical activity; S.B – sedentary behaviour; PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder; S: significant; NS: not significant; x: outcome not assessed