Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Struggling to cope with uncertainty has been associated with poorer mental health in young adults, but a brief intervention aimed at tackling this issue has delivered encouraging outcomes.
Research led by psychologists at UNSW Sydney found that a short online course lasting just 20 to 30 minutes can help young adults better manage uncertainty and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Notably, these mental health benefits were still present at least one month after participants completed the course.
Published recently in Psychological Medicine, the study arrives at a time when uncertainty has become a constant for young people, driven by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global instability, rising living costs, and ongoing housing affordability challenges.
Associate Professor Susanne Schweizer, the study’s senior author, indicated that young people today are reaching adulthood in an environment shaped by major climate, economic, social, and health uncertainties. She further noted that high uncertainty has been suggested as a key driver of increasing youth mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.
“In this study we showed that an ultra-brief course – one that took less than half an hour to complete – successfully improved emerging adults’ tolerance of uncertainty, which significantly benefited their mental health one month later.”
Associate Professor Schweizer explained that uncertainty affects mental health across all age groups, but younger people experience and respond to it differently from older adults. She noted that adolescents and young adults report higher intolerance of uncertainty, a pattern that intensified during the pandemic and continues to shape how young people manage everyday stress.
The research involved 259 young adults aged 18 to 24, who were randomly assigned to one of two short online training programs or a control group that received no training.
One program, the Uncertainty-Mindset Training, was completed by 103 participants. It aimed to help young adults see uncertainty as less threatening, emphasised that managing uncertainty is a learnable skill, and introduced the STAR technique (Stop, Accept and Re-think) to interrupt worry and rumination—patterns strongly linked to anxiety and depression.
An equal-sized group (106 participants) completed the Psychoeducation Training, which covered general wellbeing topics such as emotion regulation, cognitive biases, social connection, and healthy routines, but did not specifically address intolerance of uncertainty.
A third no-training group completed the same assessments without receiving any instructional material, allowing researchers to separate the effects of the programs from natural psychological changes over time.
Although the Uncertainty-Mindset Training lasted under 30 minutes, it produced the strongest results. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in tolerance of uncertainty, alongside reduced anxiety and depression, both immediately after the course and one month later.
“The fact that a single session could produce measurable improvements suggests this approach may have real value. Helping young people rethink their relationship with uncertainty in a simple, accessible way means young adults from all backgrounds – especially those without access to traditional mental health services – can thrive in uncertain times.”
In contrast, the psychoeducation module produced more modest benefits, while the no-training group showed little to no change.
Three months after completing the module, participants still showed significantly greater tolerance of uncertainty, though improvements in anxiety and depression had begun to fade.
Associate Professor Schweizer noted that the persistence of reduced intolerance of uncertainty—even three months after a single 20-to-30-minute session—suggests potential for long-term psychological resilience, despite the gradual reduction in mood-related benefits.
