Acupuncture Combined with Herbal Cake-Separated Moxibustion for Chronic Pelvic Pain in Sequelae of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

University represents a critical life course transition in which academic, social and geographical changes reshape students’ daily routine, identity, health and help-seeking behaviors. Epidemiological studies consistently show that the first onsets of common mental disorders cluster before age 25, with anxiety and impulse-control disorders typically emerging in adolescence and mood and substance use disorders in early adulthood (, ). In university populations, cross-national evidence from the World Mental Health–International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative indicates substantial prevalence and impairment alongside wide cross-institutional variability and unmet treatment need (–). Parallel reviews suggest that, while students report symptoms at least as frequently as non-students of the same age, service uptake remains limited and often delayed because of attitudinal (e.g., stigma, perceived norms) and structural (i.e., wait-times, availability) barriers (–). These challenges have intensified in the past decade, with repeated cross-sectional surveys and administrative series documenting sustained demand that outpaces the capacity of traditional campus counseling models (). The COVID-19 pandemic further amplified stressors and, in many settings, increased the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among university populations (, ). Within a behavioral epidemiology framework, mental health in emerging adulthood is tightly interwoven with modifiable lifestyle risks and digital habits. For instance, sleep disturbance prospectively predicts depression onset, with meta-analytic evidence showing approximately a twofold risk among people with insomnia compared with those without sleep difficulties (). Physical activity is inversely associated with incident depression across age groups, with protective effects observed at relatively modest doses in prospective cohorts (). Diet quality has also been implicated: adherence to healthy dietary patterns is inversely associated with depressive outcomes in longitudinal syntheses (). In the risk domain, harmful alcohol use and behavioral addictions, including problematic gaming, social media and gambling, are salient in student populations and are now measurable with brief, validated instruments (IGDS9-SF, BSMAS, PGSI) (–). The integration of these tools within a coherent measurement architecture allows the study of subjective symptoms and objective lifestyle indicators and, in turn, enables stratified prevention strategies targeting the most modifiable risk patterns.