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Improv Comedy to Reduce Anxiety and Improve Mental Well-Being in Young Chinese Adults in Hong Kong

Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong • ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT07737821

Registry updated: 2026-09-04

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Description

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if improv comedy helps reduce anxiety symptoms and improve mental well-being in Chinese young adults in Hong Kong. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does improv comedy reduce anxiety symptoms? 2. Does improv comedy improve mental well-being? Researchers will compare participants who join the improv comedy workshops to participants who are placed on a waiting list to receive the workshops later, to see if improv comedy reduces anxiety and improves mental well-being. Participants will: 1. Attend weekly three-hour improv comedy workshops for 4 consecutive weeks 2. Complete four assessments and brief reflections during or around the workshop sessions 3. Take part in up to two individual interviews (optional)

Interventions

Improv Against Anxiety (IAA) (Behavioral)
Improv Against Anxiety (IAA) is a structured, group-based improv comedy program consisting of four weekly 3-hour sessions. Sessions use established improv games and exercises to reduce anxiety symptoms and enhance mental well-bein

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Ethnic Chinese, fluent in spoken Mandarin and able to read Chinese * Never married and without children * No current or past diagnosis of any mental disorder (e.g. anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders) * Mild to moderate anxiety symptoms (defined as a GAD-7 total score between 5 and 14) * No prior experience of formal performance training in drama * Availability to attend at least 3 out of 4 weekly sessions over the 4-week intervention period upon enrolment Exclusion Criteria: * Unstable or severe chronic physical illness that would contraindicate participation in group activities or light-to-moderate physical movement (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension, severe asthma, acute cardiovascular events within the past 6 months) * Moderately severe to severe depression symptoms (defined as a PHQ-9 total score greater than 14) * Suicidal ideation (defined as a score greater than 0 on item 9 of the PHQ-9) * Potential risky drinking behavior (defined as AUDIT-C total score greater than 4)

Conditions

Anxiety Mental Health

Locations

Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong — Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Official Source

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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