2.1. Participants and Recruitment
mental illness, psychotic illness, medical illness, psychiatric, depression, RA
CHRONIC PAIN, RECRUITMENT
The volunteer students were recruited online using four modes. They attended different universities across Pakistan. The universities were identified based on research assistants’ (RA) outreach resource. The four modes of recruitment, assessed for feasibility were as follows:Social media: Non-official WhatsApp groups, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts managed by students.University platforms: Official university group pages and email groups.Recommendations: Academics, alumni, and students referred other students who might benefit from the training.Direct emails/messages: Emails and WhatsApp messages sent to students directly by RAs.Two RAs not involved in any other part of the project were responsible for recruiting participants. A standard flyer was developed, and RAs were briefed about the project to address student concerns during recruitment. After completing recruitment, they submitted a report to the lead researcher (AS) describing their recruiting process (Interested students were included provided they were (i) 18 years or older, (ii) enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate course in a university in Pakistan. The students were excluded if they reported (i) any current diagnosed severe mental illness, e.g., severe depression or psychotic illness, (ii) any current diagnosed severe medical illness, e.g., chronic pain, (iii) undergoing any form of psychotherapy/counseling or psychiatric medication. Selection criteria was self-reported. Reporting of mental health issues is subjective and self-reporting may have lowered reliability; however, in this study in a non-clinical population, the students were asked about concrete diagnoses rather than an assessment of symptoms.The sample size for the trial was based on the most agreed-upon size for a pilot trial; The participants (