(PS12-50) Emotional Difficulties of University Students in the Face of the “new Normal” of COVID-19: An Online Cognitive-behavioral Intervention

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic caused increased levels of anxiety and depression in college students. Although online psychological interventions for emotional distress during the COVID-19 quarantine have been developed, the effectiveness of individual psychological interventions to help university students adapt to the epidemiological phase called the "New Normal" has not been amply tested. The main objective of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of an individual Cognitive-Behavioral treatment to reduce psychological distress (stress, fear, anxiety, and depression) in the adaptation to the New Normal of the COVID-19 pandemic in university students at Mexico's National University (UNAM). An A-B intrasubject experimental design included three baseline and two follow-up data points at one and two months. Participants undergraduate students over 18 years of age, with GAD-7 scores greater than 10 or PHQ-9 scores greater than 10. The results indicate clinical and statistically significant differences between pre-and post-treatment measures of anxiety, depression, stress, fear, and COVID-19 maladjustment. The NAP index showed that most participants obtained a large or medium effect. Discussion and Conclusions. The transdiagnostic treatment was effective for college students with emotional problems adjusting to post-pandemic COVID-19.