Intervention Nursing Student Mother Heart Connection (NSMHC) to Improve Student Mental Health

Background This study examines the effectiveness of the Nursing Student-Mother Heart Connection (NSMHC) mobile application in enhancing the mental health of university students by improving communication between mothers and their children. Mental health is a critical determinant of academic success and overall well-being among university students, with parent-child relationships, particularly with mothers, playing a significant role. Purpose This study aims to find out the effectiveness of NSMHC applications to improve students' mental health Methods A quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was canducted with 60 first-year nursing students and their mothers. The intervention group received daily mindfulness-based emotion regulation training for mothers via the NSMHC app over a two-week period, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Mental health outcomes were measured using the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5), and communication quality was assessed using the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS). Results Sixty participants completed the study. The intervention group showed significant improvements in maternal communication, child communication, and student mental health after the two-week NSMHC program (all p < 0.05). Between-group analysis revealed significantly better mental health outcomes in the intervention group compared with the control group (p = 0.041). Conclusion These findings suggest that NSMHC can enhance mother-child communication and have a positive impact on student mental health. Further research is recommended to explore the long-term effects and mechanisms underlying these outcomes. Trial Registration: The study was registered in TCTR ( TCTR20260304010 ; registration date: 04 March 2026; retrospectively registered)