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Mental health problems among university students have been worsening since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective is to create scientific evidence about the models of mental health-promoting interventions among higher education students applied in academic environments, as well as their effectiveness. We aim to synthesise the scientific evidence on the models of an intervention promoting mental health among university students applied in academic environments as well as their results.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods and analysis<\/jats:title><jats:p>A systematic review of the literature will be conducted. The research will be carried out using the EBSCO databases (CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection), PubMed and Scopus. The research strategy includes the following MeSH or similar terms: Universities [Mesh], Students [Mesh], Education [Mesh], Undergraduate, \u201cHigher Education\u201d, Universit*, College, Student*; \u201cPsychosocial intervention\u201d [Mesh], \u201cNon-pharmacological\u201d, \u201cIntervention model*\u201c, \u201cMental health promotion program*\u201c, Intervention*; \u201cRandomized Controlled Trial\u201d, RCT; \u201cMental health\u201d [Mesh], Depression [Mesh], Anxiety [Mesh], \u201cStress, psychological\u201d [Mesh], \u201cQuality of life\u201d [Mesh], and \u201cPsychological well-being\u201d [Mesh]. All experimental studies with mental health-promoting interventions for university students that were published between January 2017 and November 2024 in English will be eligible. Two independent reviewers will apply the inclusion and exclusion criteria, analyse the quality of the data and extract it for synthesis. Disagreements will be resolved by a third reviewer. All randomised controlled trial studies with interventions in university students and their efficacy (with means and SD) will be included in the systematic review of the literature. The standardised mean difference will be used as the effect size to standardise individual results. Sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis and meta-regression will be conducted to explore the causes of heterogeneity and the robustness of the results.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Ethics and dissemination<\/jats:title><jats:p>Ethical approval is not required for this study as it is based on the review of previously published data. The results will be disseminated through publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at academic conferences, as well as in events organised by student associations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>PROSPERO registration number<\/jats:title><jats:p>CRD42022359608.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2024-091297","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,24]],"date-time":"2025-03-24T05:49:19Z","timestamp":1742795359000},"page":"e091297","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Mental health-promoting intervention models in university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0342-8892","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro","family":"Amaro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"C\u00e9sar","family":"Fonseca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Anabela","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Anabela","family":"Afonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Maria L","family":"Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Isaura","family":"Serra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Maria F\u00e1tima","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Cansu","family":"Erfidan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sabina","family":"Valente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rev\u00e9s","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1174-0744","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lara Guedes","family":"de Pinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2024\/5528350","article-title":"Depression and Anxiety of Portuguese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study about Prevalence and Associated Factors","volume":"2024","author":"Amaro","year":"2024","journal-title":"Depress Anxiety"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.31505\/rbtcc.v18i2.880","article-title":"Ansiedade e Qualidade de Vida entre Estudantes Universit\u00e1rios Ingressantes: Avalia\u00e7\u00e3o e Interven\u00e7\u00e3o","volume":"18","author":"Lantyer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Rev Bras Ter Comp Cogn"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"433","DOI":"10.1080\/00223980.2017.1314927","article-title":"Undesirable Effects of Working While in College: Work-School Conflict, Substance Use, and Health","volume":"151","author":"Oviatt","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Psychol"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3263","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291716002269","article-title":"Interventions for enhancing return to work in individuals with a common mental illness: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials","volume":"46","author":"Nigatu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Psychol Med"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"400","DOI":"10.1002\/da.22461","article-title":"PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS: A METAANALYSIS","volume":"33","author":"Cuijpers","year":"2016","journal-title":"Depress Anxiety"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2196\/20790","article-title":"Effects of a Mobile and Web App (Thought Spot) on Mental Health Help-Seeking Among College and University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial","volume":"22","author":"Wiljer","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.7","first-page":"199","article-title":"Mental health interventions for college and university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A critical synthesis of the literature","volume":"50","author":"Zapata-Ospina","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rev Colomb Psiquiatr (Engl Ed)"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1027\/1016-9040\/a000337","article-title":"Intentional Engagement in the Transition to Adulthood","volume":"23","author":"Marttinen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur Psychol"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1177\/01650254211007564","article-title":"Developmental goals during the transition to young adulthood","volume":"45","author":"Yau","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Behav Dev"},{"key":"2025040100173398000_15.3.e091297.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fonseca I , Bernate J , Betancourt M , et al . 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