Addressing Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Bullied Victim: A Quasi-Experimental Time-Series Study

Bullying has been a persistent threat to mental health among university students in Malaysian higher learning institutions, defiling the university as an effective learning institution. This study examined how effective the Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) was in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among bullied university students. In a quasi-experimental time-series design, 32 students aged 23–30 were purposively recruited from three universities in Kedah based on DASS-42 scores of moderate to severe psychological distress. The participants had nine TF-CBT group sessions over four months. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed at four time points using the validated Malay version of DASS-42. Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences on all measures, with depression scores decreasing from M=17.34 (pre-test) to M=3.69 (post-test), anxiety from M=12.44 to M=2.88, and stress from M=22.28 to M=4.91. Significant pairwise differences at each level were reported using Bonferroni post-hoc analysis (p < .001). The intervention had a large effect size (η² = .996), attesting to the efficacy of TF-CBT in preventing psychological harm caused by bullying. Findings highlight the importance of institutional mental health treatment, timely intervention, and trauma-informed care on campus. Larger, diverse samples and longitudinal designs are necessary for future research to enhance generalizability and assess long-term outcomes.