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Article History

Received: 13 August 2025

Accepted: 23 June 2026

First Online: 6 July 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: The questionnaire and methodology for this study were approved by the Ethics Committee of Henan Province Key Laboratory of Psychology and Behavior on November 24, 2024 (Ethics approval number: 20241124002). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

: Verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants. Because the survey was administered offline, face-to-face, with two researchers present and the students’ teacher serving as a witness, we were able to fully inform each participant of their voluntary choice. Questionnaires were distributed only after verbal consent was given. This approach was approved by the ethics committee, as written consent in this classroom setting could reduce participants’ sense of privacy. Data collection took place in three waves: 20–21 February, 20–21 March and 21–22 April 2025, and verbal consent was requested immediately before each wave. The verbal consent process was witnessed by the two researchers and the students’ teacher. To protect participant privacy, no audio or video recording was made. Every participant was fully informed of the study’s purpose, understood that participation was entirely voluntary and that they could withdraw at any time. They were also told that their responses would remain confidential, that the data would be used solely for scientific research and that the findings would be published in academic articles. By agreeing to take part, participants consented to the use of their questionnaire data for research and subsequent publication. The survey itself carried the following reminder: “There are no right or wrong answers; all information will be kept strictly confidential and inaccessible to third parties. Please feel free to answer. The results will be used for academic purposes only and will not affect you in any way. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, you may exit the survey immediately. The script used for verbal consent has been provided as a supplementary file (Supplementary File _ verbal consent).