ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Digital Legal Awareness Intervention Reduces Anxiety Through Enhanced Coping Strategies: A Cluster RCT Among Chinese Vocational Students
Han Xiao 1
Rui Wen 2
Qiuyan Peng 3
1. Chongqing Polytechnic University of Electronic Technology, CHONGQING, China
2. Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
3. Chongqing Education Information Technology and Equipment Center (China Educational Television Chongqing Reporter Station), Chongqing, China
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Abstract
Background: Traditional legal publicity methods inadequately address both cognitive and psychological dimensions of legal awareness among Chinese vocational college students, who experience heightened anxiety when confronting legal challenges. This study evaluated whether theory-based interactive multimedia legal publicity improves psychological outcomes compared to conventional approaches. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 500 students from 14 classes across 7 colleges at a large vocational college in Southwest China. The intervention group (n=258) received an 8-week interactive multimedia legal publicity program integrating micro-learning principles, narrative psychology, and social cognitive theory through WeChat group discussions and multimedia content delivery. The control group (n=242) received traditional legal publicity through conventional channels. Primary outcomes included anxiety levels (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale) and coping strategies (Simple Coping Style Questionnaire) measured at baseline and post-intervention. Results: Linear mixed-effects models revealed significant intervention effects. The intervention group showed greater anxiety reduction (group×time interaction: β = 2.76, 95% CI [0.7, 4.8]), enhanced positive coping strategies (β = -4.92, 95% CI [-6.3, -3.5]), and reduced negative coping patterns (β = 3.55, 95% CI [2.4, 4.7]) compared to controls. Effect sizes were moderate to large (Cohen's d = 0.40-0.64). Among students with baseline clinical anxiety, 18.4% in the intervention group versus 11.6% in the control group improved to subclinical levels. Mediation analysis indicated that positive coping strategies completely mediated the intervention-anxiety relationship, accounting for 76.5% of the total effect. Conclusion: Theory-based interactive multimedia legal publicity may effectively reduce anxiety and enhance adaptive coping among Chinese vocational college students. The intervention's reliance on familiar platforms and existing institutional structures suggests potential for scalable implementation in Chinese higher education contexts.
Summary
Keywords
Anxiety reduction, Cluster randomized controlled trial, coping strategies, Legal education, micro-learning
Received
05 June 2025
Accepted
20 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Xiao, Wen and Peng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Qiuyan Peng
Disclaimer
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