India’s vast youth population offers a unique lens for exploring their emotional regulation and mental health, which remain underexplored despite their importance. This study, the first of its kind, examines post-COVID cognitive reappraisal (CR), expressive suppression (ES), and their broader mental health interconnections among 1628 young adult students (aged 18–29) from higher educational institutions in India’s Tier-1 cities using the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Variations in emotion regulation and mental health were analysed across gender, age groups, course categories, cities, and geographical zones using t-tests and ANOVA. Significant gender differences in emotion regulation and mental health were found. Cognitive reappraisal varied across gender, age groups, cities, and geographical zones. Females reported more usage of cognitive reappraisal and experienced greater distress compared to males. Cognitive reappraisal correlated with better psychological well-being, whereas expressive suppression correlated with psychological distress. Alarmingly, 42% of young adult participants exhibited medium to high levels of expressive suppression, indicating a pressing psychological crisis that could have devastating effects on the emotional well-being and mental health of young adults. Findings suggest that while pre-existing emotional regulation patterns have persisted, post-pandemic stress has intensified their impact, widening gender and regional disparities in mental health. These results underscore the need for Interventions promoting mental health awareness and emotion management techniques for the overall well-being of young adults, especially in higher educational landscapes.

Purpose: Digital and AI-supported psychosocial interventions are increasingly implemented to address psychological distress among women with breast cancer. However, their effectiveness and sustainability remain uncertain. This review aimed to systematically evaluate randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the impact of digital and AI-enhanced psychosocial interventions on stress, anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Methods: Following PROSPERO registration and PRISMA 2020 guidelines, comprehensive searches of multiple databases were conducted up to June 2025. Eligible studies included RCTs involving breast cancer populations and reporting validated psychosocial outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2.0 tool, and certainty of evidence was evaluated with GRADE. Random-effects meta-analyses using standardised mean differences (Hedges’ g) were conducted to pool outcomes measured with different instruments. Results: Thirty-five RCTs (n ≈ 7551 participants) met inclusion criteria. Pooled analyses indicated modest but consistent reductions in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, alongside improvements in HRQoL. Interventions grounded in cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness, or psychoeducation produced the most reliable outcomes. AI-assisted and blended formats tended to show stronger effects compared with static or minimally interactive platforms. However, heterogeneity in intervention design, short follow-up periods, reliance on self-reported outcomes, and small single-centre samples limited certainty. Cultural adaptation and representation from low- and middle-income countries were minimal. Conclusion: Digital and AI-supported psychosocial interventions show promise in reducing distress and improving HRQoL among women with breast cancer. Evidence certainty remains moderate, constrained by methodological limitations. Larger, multicentre trials with longer follow-up and diverse populations are needed to establish sustainability, generalisability, and clinical integration. Relevance: These findings suggest that digital and AI-enhanced psychosocial interventions may serve as adjuncts to conventional care, with potential to improve access to supportive oncology services. Further high-quality, long-term studies are needed before informing guidelines, policy, or widespread implementation. Trial registration: PROSPERO (CRD420251074813; registered 16 June 2025).

Student diversity plays a crucial role in fostering inclusive education, which enhances innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. In India, while the student mobility is increasing, disparities across regions and institutions continue to influence students’ decision in choosing an institution. Understanding student’s decision making will enhance equal opportunity for quality education. This study aims to identify the factors affecting interstate student diversity in Indian higher education. Secondary data from a national ranking body were analysed using statistical techniques and supervised machine learning algorithms using tool OriginPro 2024 and MATLAB’s R2024a respectively. Statistical analyses, including Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, and Kruskal–Wallis tests, were employed to analyse relationships among factors, while machine learning models such as Gaussian Process Regression, Ensemble methods, Support Vector Machines, and Kernel-based approaches were used to assess feature importance. The findings show that the factors of student diversity vary across institution types. In Central Government Funded Institutions (CGFIs), location (23%) and course offerings (9%), while in State Government Funded Institutions (SGFIs), international student proportion (17%), were significant factors. For Self-Financed Institutions (SFIs), institutional rank (13%) and placement opportunities (10%) were key factors. These insights can guide policies and strategies to enhance student diversity and promote inclusive education in alignment with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and quality education Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4.

Objective: Studies on the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in Kashmir, India, are yet to be conducted. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of ACEs among young adults across all the ten districts of Kashmir Valley. Methods: A cross-sectional research strategy was used to assess the prevalence of ACEs by employing a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected from 800 students studying in different colleges and universities in Kashmir with the help of the “Adverse Childhood Experiences” (ACEs) scale. Results: Findings disclosed that less than a quarter of the respondents reported high exposure to ACEs (15.4 %), more than one-tenth of the participants reported extremely high exposure to ACEs (13.4 %), over a quarter of the sample reported moderate exposure to ACEs (26.3 %), one-third of the youth reported low exposure to ACEs (33.0 %) and over one-tenth of the respondents reported no exposure to ACEs (11.8 %). The prevalence of ACEs was found to be 88.2 % (females: 82.7 % and males: 90.8 %) in Kashmir. The ACEs with the highest level of prevalence were “often or very often sworn at, insulted, or put down” (49.8 %), followed by “often or very often acted in a way that made them afraid that they would be physically hurt” (47.6 %), “often or very often pushed, grabbed, shoved, or slapped” (41.6 %), “often or very often hit so hard that they had marks or were injured” (28.3 %) and “touched or sexually fondled” (25.3 %). Thirteen out of 21 adverse events during childhood were significantly associated with gender. Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to advocate early targeted interventions, reduce ACEs and their impact, and design efficient measures to improve the health and well-being of young adults in Kashmir.