Group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention to promote active aging behaviors in older people: protocol for a randomized controlled trial
The global population is aging rapidly, with individuals over 65 being the fastest-growing age group, presenting the most critical medical and social demographic problem worldwide . According to the United Nations, by 2050, one in every six people worldwide will be over age 65 (16%), up from 1 in 11 in 2019 (9%) . Japan, Finland, and Italy have the oldest populations, while China is one of the countries with the fastest-growing older people populations . Rapid population aging poses significant challenges, and this demographic transition will affect all aspects of society, including pressure on pension systems, changes in the labor market, and an increased burden on family care . In addition, as people age, the incidence of chronic diseases increases, affecting their quality of life and increasing the burden on healthcare and social security systems . Therefore, the health and well-being of older people have become a focus of international attention. Facing the challenge of aging, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the concept of active aging in 2002 , defined as “the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance the quality of life as people age.” This concept has gradually received attention in recent years. In the active aging framework, health, participation, and security are the three pillars necessary to achieve active aging . Scholars have studied active aging from various perspectives and have produced numerous research results. Firstly, previous research confirms the critical role of physical and mental health and welfare policies in active aging. Specifically, physical activity helps older people improve physical function, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and improve mental health . Enhancing mental health can improve the quality of life for older people . Additionally, previous studies further clarify the concept of active aging. Iwarsson et al. pointed out that the autonomy of older people is the main focus for future development within the active aging framework . Furthermore, previous studies highlight the role of education and lifelong learning in promoting active aging. For example, Rote et al. found that improving older people’s access to education and careers during the early and middle ages can narrow the cognitive health disparities in later years . A study in Korea found that night school lifelong learning programs helped older people overcome educational limitations, achieve personal goals, and promote active participation in society, thereby promoting active aging behaviors . Helping older people learn new skills or deepen their knowledge in various fields through education can make them feel more empowered and autonomous, enhance their confidence and self-esteem, and thus improve their quality of life . Although the concept of active aging has been widely accepted, promoting it still presents challenges. Especially nowadays, there is widespread ageism in society which assumes that older people have weak learning abilities and need to be taken care of . Specifically, in public discourse, there is an increasing portrayal of older people over 70 as helpless, frail, and unable to contribute to society, leading to stigmatization, prejudice, stereotyping, and ageism worldwide . Qualitative research on ageism reveals the negative attitudes older people hold towards themselves. For example, when older people feel that their learning ability is insufficient, they often use attributions such as “I am interested, but I am powerless,” which emphasize the erroneous belief that physical and mental decline is inevitable with age . Ageism overlooks the autonomy emphasized by active aging and ignores the fact that the abilities of older people can be improved. Once older people internalize ageism, such as the belief that they need to be taken care of, it leads to habitual passivity, over-dependence, lack of autonomy and health problems , which is not conducive to achieving active aging. Active aging emphasizes older people’s autonomy . However, current research on active aging focuses more on environmental interventions, such as establishing friendly aging communities and improving healthcare systems, rather than promoting the autonomy of older people. Although supportive environments can play an essential role in providing opportunities for active participation and a happy life in later years, the achievement of active aging cannot be separated from the autonomy of older people. Since health, participation, and security are the three pillars of active aging, engaging in active health, promoting active participation and self-security behaviors are autonomous manifestation of active aging. Therefore, it is crucial to seek intervention targets to enhance the autonomy of older people, which will reduce the negative consequences of ageism, enhance their well-being in later years, and thereby promote the achievement of active aging. In seeking intervention targets to promote the autonomy of older people, we found that growth mindset is an essential factor in promoting active aging in middle and old age . The concept of growth mindset originates from an implicit theory proposed by Dweck, which refers to people’s beliefs about their characteristics . Based on the implicit theory, Dweck explored whether ability can be developed, leading to the identification of two types of beliefs: the entity view of ability and the implicit theory of ability. Individuals who hold the entity view of ability think that ability is innate and cannot be changed. In contrast, individuals who hold the implicit theory of ability believe that ability can be developed through effort. As the research continued to deepen, Dweck replaced the implicit theory with the mindset theory and proposed two mindsets: the growth and the fixed mindsets . Individuals with a growth mindset believe that one’s intelligence, talents, and strengths can significantly improve through effort . On the contrary, individuals with a fixed mindset believe that a person’s intelligence, talents, and advantages are mainly innate, and unlikely to change . Previous research pointed out that throughout a person’s life (including old age), ability, character and other aspects can grow and improve through effort and actions. For example, crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge and skills) tends to increase with age . Growth mindset involves the assumption that one can overcome age-related limitations and continue to grow, guiding individuals’ perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and actions. Growth mindset is an implicit theory about the plasticity of a particular ability or type of person. It is an important driver of coping with challenges, learning, and behavior change , which is closely related to individuals’ autonomy. More importantly, previous studies have found positive effects of growth mindset on older people. Firstly, older people with growth mindset have more positive implicit aging attitudes and better mental health outcomes . In addition, compared to those with fixed mindset, older people with growth mindset are more likely to explore, try, and adopt behaviors that contribute to health, such as adequate sleep, adjustment of eating habits, and active exercise . Regarding cognition, growth mindset has a positive predictive effect on the performance of older people in free recall memory task . In general, studies have pointed out that growth mindset plays an indispensable role in the successful aging of older people . On the issue of active aging, the study speculates that the growth mindset of older people aligns with the concept of active aging and is closely related to autonomy. Specifically, the growth mindset of older people can be defined as the belief that their intelligence, health, personality, and self-security ability can be changed through efforts, which echoes the pillars of active aging . Firstly, growth mindset in intelligence reflects an individual’s belief that intelligence can be improved through ongoing efforts , which is crucial for understanding how older people perceive their ability to learn new things. The study speculates that older people with growth mindset in intelligence are more inclined to adopt active learning behaviors. Secondly, growth mindset in health reflects the belief of older people that their health status can be improved through efforts such as active exercise . The study speculates that growth mindset in health is consistent with the health pillar in the theory of active aging, and older people with growth mindset in health tend to adopt active health behaviors. Thirdly, growth mindset in personality reflects the view of older people that personality can be changed through effort . In the face of interpersonal conflicts, individuals with growth mindset believe that the relationships can be improved through efforts, are more likely to adopt constructive solutions, contribute to better interpersonal interaction . The study speculates that growth mindset in personality is closely linked to the participation pillar of active aging theory, and older people with growth mindset in personality tend to engage in active social participation behaviors. Finally, the growth mindset in self-security ability reflects the belief that older people’s ability to obtain information on social security policies actively can be improved through their efforts . Individuals with growth mindset adopt positive coping strategies in the face of challenges and pressures, which helps to improve their self-security ability to cope with complex environments. The study speculates that growth mindset in self-security ability corresponds to the pillar of security in the active aging theory, and older people with growth mindset in self-security ability tend to adopt active self-security behaviors. To sum up, the study will develop intervention programs to cultivate the growth mindset of older people, promote their autonomy, and encourage the adoption of active learning, active health, active social participation, and active self-security behaviors. In recent years, growth mindset interventions designed to develop beliefs about the malleability of abilities, attributes, and characteristics have become increasingly popular. The application of growth mindset has expanded from one single field of education to multiple fields, such as career development, mental health, and aging . Growth mindset intervention methods include the following categories. The first category is face-to-face intervention, delivered in the form of lectures . The second category is internet intervention, which allows individuals to receive growth mindset intervention online . The third category is virtual reality (VR) intervention, achieved through special equipment, such as VR helmets and VR glasses . For older people, appropriate intervention is particularly critical. Although face-to-face interventions with older people in the form of lectures can convey much information and are easy to organize, potential drawbacks affect their acceptability. For example, lectures are often a one-way method of delivering information, resulting in less engaged and interactive participants . For older people, a lack of interaction may reduce their interest and motivation, affecting learning outcomes. In addition, this format may lead to information overload, especially when the content is dense or taught too quickly . As a result, older people may feel cognitively overloaded and have difficulty absorbing and retaining information effectively. Furthermore, technical barriers may pose a significant challenge for older people if internet interventions are used . Older people face a digital divide and lag behind younger people in using information technology . The challenges older people face when using extended reality technologies cannot be ignored. For example, older people may be at higher risk of motion sickness and falls when VR tools block their view of the surrounding environment . Therefore, traditional growth mindset intervention methods may be unsuitable for older people. This study intends to adopt an intervention method suitable for older people, group psychological counseling technique. Group psychological counseling technique is a form of psychological counseling conducted in a group setting . Specifically, it involves group members under the leadership of a group leader, focusing on one or more topics of common concern. Through interpersonal interactions within the group, members can learn new attitudes and behaviors through observation, experience, sharing, and feedback. Group psychological counseling technique emphasizes education rather than treatment, focusing on preventive and cognitive changes for individuals . It is a one-to-many process and is often more effective than individual intervention. More importantly, group psychological counseling technique creates a situation like real social life and uses group dynamics to promote learning and change among group members. Hence, the changes brought about by group psychological counseling technique interventions can be easily transferred to real life and consolidated . Moreover, previous studies have found that group psychological counseling for older people in the community significantly reduces anxiety and depression , enhances life-coping and adaptation abilities , and significantly improves self-efficacy . Compared to traditional intervention methods, group psychological counseling can help older people learn constructive behavior patterns through group interaction and sharing, gain support and encouragement, and achieve personal growth. Therefore, based on previous research, this study will adopt the innovative group psychological counseling technique to conduct growth mindset interventions for older people. Our research aims to conduct growth mindset interventions based on the group psychological counseling technique and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention in older people through a randomized controlled trial. The main research question is: compared to the usual control group, how effective is the group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention in promoting active aging behaviors and improving well-being in the autonomous intervention group? We hypothesize that cultivating the growth mindset of older people can stimulate their autonomy, improve their sense of self-control, promote active learning, active health, active participation, and active self-security behaviors, and improve their well-being in later life. We aim to use group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention to help older people achieve proactive health management and self-security, promote their more active participation in social activities, and support the development and maintenance of active aging behavior habits. Moreover, to enhance the scalability and replicability of the intervention program, the research adopts the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to explore the factors that promote or hinder the effectiveness of group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention in older people, providing solutions for addressing population aging. 

Design This study will adopt a randomized controlled trial and set up two groups: the autonomous intervention group and the usual control group. Community work centers will publish recruitment notices and select eligible research participants. The study’s purpose will be explained to the participants, who will complete a baseline questionnaire after giving informed consent. Participants will be randomly assigned to the autonomous intervention group or the usual control group at baseline. Each participant in the autonomous intervention group will be randomly placed into one fixed group of 4–7 people to participate in 4 structured group psychological counseling-based growth mindset interventions, which are held 1–2 times a week for 60 min each. Through the structured interventions, the participants in the autonomous intervention group will be encouraged to change their cognition and adopt active learning, active health, active participation, and active self-security behaviors with the joint support and encouragement of the group members. After the initial interventions, each autonomous intervention group will establish a WeChat group to maintain contact and provide follow-up resource support, such as information on active healthy lifestyle and social security policy, to help promote active aging behaviors of older people into lasting behavioral habits. Both the autonomous intervention group and the usual control group will undergo the same measurements, including growth mindset, active learning, active health, active participation, and self-security behaviors, at four time points (baseline, after the intervention, one month and three months after the intervention). In addition, it is considered that relevant research on achieving the objectives of the intervention, and the conditions of these objectives need to be guided by implementation science. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) is an implementation science assessment tool widely used in health psychology and behavior change research to assess, understand, and influence changes in health-related behaviors . To enhance the scalability and replicability of the intervention program, the study will use the 14 theoretical domains of TDF to conduct qualitative interviews with the participants and community workers who participate in the autonomous intervention group, exploring the obstacles and promoting factors in the implementation process of the intervention program. The research process is illustrated in Fig. . Participants According to the stage theory of retirement research, older people are prone to disillusionment and negative emotions during the 2–8 year period following retirement . Therefore, this study selects older people who have been retired for 2–8 years as the participants to activate their autonomy and prevent geriatric diseases that may arise or worsen due to disillusionment and negative emotions. This selection ensures that our intervention focuses on those most vulnerable to the challenges associated with this critical transition period. The inclusion and exclusion criteria for the participants are as follows: Inclusion criteria: (1) Older people who have been retired for 2–8 years. (2) Residents of the study site who have lived in the community for more than six months and are not planning to move within the following year. (3) Voluntarily agree to join and sign a written consent form and promise to keep the research content confidential. Exclusion criteria: (1) Participation in group psychological counseling activities fewer than two times or planning to move out of residence. (2) Lack of average verbal communication skills and hearing ability to express themselves and listen properly. (3) Prior history of mental illness. (4) Severe conditions requiring bed rest. Trial setting To ensure that the research sample is representative, this study plans to select one district or county in Zhejiang Province (eastern China) and Hubei Province (western China) as the research locations. According to the GDP data released in 2022, the economic status of Jianshi County and Huangyan District ranked similarly in the two provinces, and hence, they have been selected as the research sites. Randomization and blinding Firstly, the study randomly selects communities in Huangyan District and Jianshi County and divides them into autonomous intervention group communities and usual control group communities. Each participant recruited from the autonomous intervention group communities will be randomly assigned to a fixed group of 4–7 people. Randomization is performed using a computer-generated random number table. Pre-intervention measures at T0 are collected before randomization. At T1 and T2, blinding the leader of the growth mindset interventions is impossible since they participate in the interventions and are thus aware if they are included in the control or intervention group. Also, blinding the researchers is impossible since they are responsible for distributing the questionnaires and conducting the seminars during the intervention. The statistician performing statistical analyses will be kept blind to intervention allocation. Procedure Intervention group According to previous research, the content of growth mindset interventions generally includes learning, summarizing, and practicing . Specifically, (1) introduce the concepts of brain and neural plasticity through text, images, or short videos. (2) Use the power of role models to demonstrate how individuals with growth mindset successfully overcome challenges to motivate participants. (3) Share successful experiences of using growth mindset with peers. (4) Provide an overview of common issues and misunderstandings related to growth mindset and ask participants to complete a plan for using growth mindset strategies in their daily lives. (5) Ask participants to write encouragement letters to others using newly learned information about growth mindset to help them cope with setbacks. This study utilizes the advantages of group motivation in group psychological counseling and combines existing research on growth mindset interventions to develop a structured and scalable group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention program for older people. The research aims to cultivate the growth mindset in older people through intervention implementation. The intervention includes four structured sessions, held 1–2 times per week, each lasting 60 min. The themes, objectives, and content of the four sessions are shown in Table . The leaders of each group psychological counseling session are majoring in psychology and public health and have received degree training in relevant fields or have participated in specialized group psychological counseling technical training courses offered by authoritative experts domestically and internationally and obtained relevant certificates. They qualify to lead or supervise group psychological counseling. Before the intervention, leaders will receive standardized theoretical and leadership training. Control group The usual control group will participate in community interest activities, such as playing chess, singing, dancing, and drawing. The duration of the activities will be consistent with that of the intervention group, with a total of four sessions, 1–2 times a week, each lasting 60 min. Outcome variables Primary outcomes Growth mindset The main outcome of this study is the growth mindset of older people. The study will use the revised growth mindset scale for older people to measure four dimensions of growth mindset in older people: intelligence, health, personality, and self-security ability . The scale consists of 11 items and has been proven to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 6-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree). Secondary outcomes Active learning behavior The study plans to offer lectures on the use of smartphones for aging in both the intervention and control group communities. The community center will send lecture notifications to the WeChat group of community residents. We will measure the active learning behavior of older people by tracking their participation in lectures on the use of smartphones for aging (1 = do not participate, 2 = participate). Active health behavior Active health behavior will be measured using the 40-item Chinese version of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) . HPLP-II is an assessment tool widely used internationally to measure health promotion behaviors, including six dimensions: interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, physical activity, stress management, and spiritual growth, which comprehensively measure the active health behaviors of older people . The scale adopts a 4-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = usually, 4 = always). The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . Active social participation behavior Active social participation behavior will be measured using a 5-item scale for social participation derived from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), social participation project . Active social participation behavior will be assessed through questions focusing on the frequency of participation in social activities: doing volunteer work with children or young people (volunteer), doing any other volunteer or charity work (charity), attending an educational or training course (education), going to a sport, social, or other club (sport/social), attending meetings of nonreligious organizations, such as political, community, or other interest groups (organizations). This scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . The scale adopts a 6-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = less than once a month, 3 = less than once a week, 4 = once a week, 5 = several times a week, 6 = daily). Active self-security behavior Active self-security behavior will be measured using a seven-item social security policy acquisition willingness scale . Centering on the core concept of the willingness to acquire social security policies, the scale includes two dimensions: the enthusiasm and autonomy of the policy audience to acquire policy information, which reflects the active self-security behavior of older people. The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 5-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = somewhat disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = strongly agree). The sense of control Older people’s sense of control was assessed using the personal mastery dimension of the Perceived Control Scale . This dimension reflects an individual’s perceived efficacy in achieving goals and consists of four items with demonstrated reliability and validity . The Chinese version of the scale, validated in prior research, was employed to ensure cultural appropriateness and psychometric robustness . An example item is: “Whether or not I am able to get what I want is in my own hands,” rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Subjective well-being Older people’s subjective well-being will be assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale, originally developed by Diener et al. . The Chinese version of the scale has been validated in previous study, demonstrating strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency, construct validity, and temporal reliability . The scale has five items, such as “My life is close to my ideal in most aspects.” The scale utilizes a 7-point Likert scoring system from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Sample size We conducted a sample size calculation based on the primary outcome, growth mindset. According to previous research, an absolute increase of 0.3 or more in growth mindset scores is considered meaningful . With a sample size of 259 subjects, each measured four times, a power of 0.80 can be achieved by utilizing a two-sided Wald test from a GEE analysis to determine whether the average slope of treatment subjects differs from that of control subjects by more than 0.3 at a significance level of 0.05. Considering a dropout rate of 40%, it is concluded that this trial requires at least 432 individuals in total, with 216 in each of the control and intervention groups. Data analysis All study data were managed using EpiData 3.1 software. Data entry was conducted by two independent personnel, with double-entry verification employed to ensure accuracy. Descriptive analyses will be performed, and data will be presented as means and standard deviations or as percentages. Chi-square and independent t-tests will be used to determine differences for binary and continuous variables respectively, between the intervention and control group. Analyses will be performed using the SPSS 26.0 software. The Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model will be utilized to examine the intervention effect. A value of p ≤ 0.05 will be considered statistically significant for all analyses. 

This study will adopt a randomized controlled trial and set up two groups: the autonomous intervention group and the usual control group. Community work centers will publish recruitment notices and select eligible research participants. The study’s purpose will be explained to the participants, who will complete a baseline questionnaire after giving informed consent. Participants will be randomly assigned to the autonomous intervention group or the usual control group at baseline. Each participant in the autonomous intervention group will be randomly placed into one fixed group of 4–7 people to participate in 4 structured group psychological counseling-based growth mindset interventions, which are held 1–2 times a week for 60 min each. Through the structured interventions, the participants in the autonomous intervention group will be encouraged to change their cognition and adopt active learning, active health, active participation, and active self-security behaviors with the joint support and encouragement of the group members. After the initial interventions, each autonomous intervention group will establish a WeChat group to maintain contact and provide follow-up resource support, such as information on active healthy lifestyle and social security policy, to help promote active aging behaviors of older people into lasting behavioral habits. Both the autonomous intervention group and the usual control group will undergo the same measurements, including growth mindset, active learning, active health, active participation, and self-security behaviors, at four time points (baseline, after the intervention, one month and three months after the intervention). In addition, it is considered that relevant research on achieving the objectives of the intervention, and the conditions of these objectives need to be guided by implementation science. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) is an implementation science assessment tool widely used in health psychology and behavior change research to assess, understand, and influence changes in health-related behaviors . To enhance the scalability and replicability of the intervention program, the study will use the 14 theoretical domains of TDF to conduct qualitative interviews with the participants and community workers who participate in the autonomous intervention group, exploring the obstacles and promoting factors in the implementation process of the intervention program. The research process is illustrated in Fig. . 

According to the stage theory of retirement research, older people are prone to disillusionment and negative emotions during the 2–8 year period following retirement . Therefore, this study selects older people who have been retired for 2–8 years as the participants to activate their autonomy and prevent geriatric diseases that may arise or worsen due to disillusionment and negative emotions. This selection ensures that our intervention focuses on those most vulnerable to the challenges associated with this critical transition period. The inclusion and exclusion criteria for the participants are as follows: Inclusion criteria: (1) Older people who have been retired for 2–8 years. (2) Residents of the study site who have lived in the community for more than six months and are not planning to move within the following year. (3) Voluntarily agree to join and sign a written consent form and promise to keep the research content confidential. Exclusion criteria: (1) Participation in group psychological counseling activities fewer than two times or planning to move out of residence. (2) Lack of average verbal communication skills and hearing ability to express themselves and listen properly. (3) Prior history of mental illness. (4) Severe conditions requiring bed rest. 

To ensure that the research sample is representative, this study plans to select one district or county in Zhejiang Province (eastern China) and Hubei Province (western China) as the research locations. According to the GDP data released in 2022, the economic status of Jianshi County and Huangyan District ranked similarly in the two provinces, and hence, they have been selected as the research sites. 

Firstly, the study randomly selects communities in Huangyan District and Jianshi County and divides them into autonomous intervention group communities and usual control group communities. Each participant recruited from the autonomous intervention group communities will be randomly assigned to a fixed group of 4–7 people. Randomization is performed using a computer-generated random number table. Pre-intervention measures at T0 are collected before randomization. At T1 and T2, blinding the leader of the growth mindset interventions is impossible since they participate in the interventions and are thus aware if they are included in the control or intervention group. Also, blinding the researchers is impossible since they are responsible for distributing the questionnaires and conducting the seminars during the intervention. The statistician performing statistical analyses will be kept blind to intervention allocation. 

Intervention group According to previous research, the content of growth mindset interventions generally includes learning, summarizing, and practicing . Specifically, (1) introduce the concepts of brain and neural plasticity through text, images, or short videos. (2) Use the power of role models to demonstrate how individuals with growth mindset successfully overcome challenges to motivate participants. (3) Share successful experiences of using growth mindset with peers. (4) Provide an overview of common issues and misunderstandings related to growth mindset and ask participants to complete a plan for using growth mindset strategies in their daily lives. (5) Ask participants to write encouragement letters to others using newly learned information about growth mindset to help them cope with setbacks. This study utilizes the advantages of group motivation in group psychological counseling and combines existing research on growth mindset interventions to develop a structured and scalable group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention program for older people. The research aims to cultivate the growth mindset in older people through intervention implementation. The intervention includes four structured sessions, held 1–2 times per week, each lasting 60 min. The themes, objectives, and content of the four sessions are shown in Table . The leaders of each group psychological counseling session are majoring in psychology and public health and have received degree training in relevant fields or have participated in specialized group psychological counseling technical training courses offered by authoritative experts domestically and internationally and obtained relevant certificates. They qualify to lead or supervise group psychological counseling. Before the intervention, leaders will receive standardized theoretical and leadership training. Control group The usual control group will participate in community interest activities, such as playing chess, singing, dancing, and drawing. The duration of the activities will be consistent with that of the intervention group, with a total of four sessions, 1–2 times a week, each lasting 60 min. 

According to previous research, the content of growth mindset interventions generally includes learning, summarizing, and practicing . Specifically, (1) introduce the concepts of brain and neural plasticity through text, images, or short videos. (2) Use the power of role models to demonstrate how individuals with growth mindset successfully overcome challenges to motivate participants. (3) Share successful experiences of using growth mindset with peers. (4) Provide an overview of common issues and misunderstandings related to growth mindset and ask participants to complete a plan for using growth mindset strategies in their daily lives. (5) Ask participants to write encouragement letters to others using newly learned information about growth mindset to help them cope with setbacks. This study utilizes the advantages of group motivation in group psychological counseling and combines existing research on growth mindset interventions to develop a structured and scalable group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention program for older people. The research aims to cultivate the growth mindset in older people through intervention implementation. The intervention includes four structured sessions, held 1–2 times per week, each lasting 60 min. The themes, objectives, and content of the four sessions are shown in Table . The leaders of each group psychological counseling session are majoring in psychology and public health and have received degree training in relevant fields or have participated in specialized group psychological counseling technical training courses offered by authoritative experts domestically and internationally and obtained relevant certificates. They qualify to lead or supervise group psychological counseling. Before the intervention, leaders will receive standardized theoretical and leadership training. 

The usual control group will participate in community interest activities, such as playing chess, singing, dancing, and drawing. The duration of the activities will be consistent with that of the intervention group, with a total of four sessions, 1–2 times a week, each lasting 60 min. 

Primary outcomes Growth mindset The main outcome of this study is the growth mindset of older people. The study will use the revised growth mindset scale for older people to measure four dimensions of growth mindset in older people: intelligence, health, personality, and self-security ability . The scale consists of 11 items and has been proven to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 6-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree). Secondary outcomes Active learning behavior The study plans to offer lectures on the use of smartphones for aging in both the intervention and control group communities. The community center will send lecture notifications to the WeChat group of community residents. We will measure the active learning behavior of older people by tracking their participation in lectures on the use of smartphones for aging (1 = do not participate, 2 = participate). Active health behavior Active health behavior will be measured using the 40-item Chinese version of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) . HPLP-II is an assessment tool widely used internationally to measure health promotion behaviors, including six dimensions: interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, physical activity, stress management, and spiritual growth, which comprehensively measure the active health behaviors of older people . The scale adopts a 4-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = usually, 4 = always). The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . Active social participation behavior Active social participation behavior will be measured using a 5-item scale for social participation derived from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), social participation project . Active social participation behavior will be assessed through questions focusing on the frequency of participation in social activities: doing volunteer work with children or young people (volunteer), doing any other volunteer or charity work (charity), attending an educational or training course (education), going to a sport, social, or other club (sport/social), attending meetings of nonreligious organizations, such as political, community, or other interest groups (organizations). This scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . The scale adopts a 6-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = less than once a month, 3 = less than once a week, 4 = once a week, 5 = several times a week, 6 = daily). Active self-security behavior Active self-security behavior will be measured using a seven-item social security policy acquisition willingness scale . Centering on the core concept of the willingness to acquire social security policies, the scale includes two dimensions: the enthusiasm and autonomy of the policy audience to acquire policy information, which reflects the active self-security behavior of older people. The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 5-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = somewhat disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = strongly agree). 

Growth mindset The main outcome of this study is the growth mindset of older people. The study will use the revised growth mindset scale for older people to measure four dimensions of growth mindset in older people: intelligence, health, personality, and self-security ability . The scale consists of 11 items and has been proven to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 6-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree). 

The main outcome of this study is the growth mindset of older people. The study will use the revised growth mindset scale for older people to measure four dimensions of growth mindset in older people: intelligence, health, personality, and self-security ability . The scale consists of 11 items and has been proven to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 6-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, 6 = strongly agree). 

Active learning behavior The study plans to offer lectures on the use of smartphones for aging in both the intervention and control group communities. The community center will send lecture notifications to the WeChat group of community residents. We will measure the active learning behavior of older people by tracking their participation in lectures on the use of smartphones for aging (1 = do not participate, 2 = participate). Active health behavior Active health behavior will be measured using the 40-item Chinese version of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) . HPLP-II is an assessment tool widely used internationally to measure health promotion behaviors, including six dimensions: interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, physical activity, stress management, and spiritual growth, which comprehensively measure the active health behaviors of older people . The scale adopts a 4-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = usually, 4 = always). The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . Active social participation behavior Active social participation behavior will be measured using a 5-item scale for social participation derived from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), social participation project . Active social participation behavior will be assessed through questions focusing on the frequency of participation in social activities: doing volunteer work with children or young people (volunteer), doing any other volunteer or charity work (charity), attending an educational or training course (education), going to a sport, social, or other club (sport/social), attending meetings of nonreligious organizations, such as political, community, or other interest groups (organizations). This scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . The scale adopts a 6-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = less than once a month, 3 = less than once a week, 4 = once a week, 5 = several times a week, 6 = daily). Active self-security behavior Active self-security behavior will be measured using a seven-item social security policy acquisition willingness scale . Centering on the core concept of the willingness to acquire social security policies, the scale includes two dimensions: the enthusiasm and autonomy of the policy audience to acquire policy information, which reflects the active self-security behavior of older people. The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 5-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = somewhat disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = strongly agree). 

The study plans to offer lectures on the use of smartphones for aging in both the intervention and control group communities. The community center will send lecture notifications to the WeChat group of community residents. We will measure the active learning behavior of older people by tracking their participation in lectures on the use of smartphones for aging (1 = do not participate, 2 = participate). 

Active health behavior will be measured using the 40-item Chinese version of the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) . HPLP-II is an assessment tool widely used internationally to measure health promotion behaviors, including six dimensions: interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, physical activity, stress management, and spiritual growth, which comprehensively measure the active health behaviors of older people . The scale adopts a 4-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = usually, 4 = always). The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . 

Active social participation behavior will be measured using a 5-item scale for social participation derived from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), social participation project . Active social participation behavior will be assessed through questions focusing on the frequency of participation in social activities: doing volunteer work with children or young people (volunteer), doing any other volunteer or charity work (charity), attending an educational or training course (education), going to a sport, social, or other club (sport/social), attending meetings of nonreligious organizations, such as political, community, or other interest groups (organizations). This scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity . The scale adopts a 6-level scoring system (1 = never, 2 = less than once a month, 3 = less than once a week, 4 = once a week, 5 = several times a week, 6 = daily). 

Active self-security behavior will be measured using a seven-item social security policy acquisition willingness scale . Centering on the core concept of the willingness to acquire social security policies, the scale includes two dimensions: the enthusiasm and autonomy of the policy audience to acquire policy information, which reflects the active self-security behavior of older people. The scale has been verified to have good reliability and validity. The scale adopts a 5-level Likert scoring system (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = somewhat disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = strongly agree). 

Older people’s sense of control was assessed using the personal mastery dimension of the Perceived Control Scale . This dimension reflects an individual’s perceived efficacy in achieving goals and consists of four items with demonstrated reliability and validity . The Chinese version of the scale, validated in prior research, was employed to ensure cultural appropriateness and psychometric robustness . An example item is: “Whether or not I am able to get what I want is in my own hands,” rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). 

Older people’s subjective well-being will be assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale, originally developed by Diener et al. . The Chinese version of the scale has been validated in previous study, demonstrating strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency, construct validity, and temporal reliability . The scale has five items, such as “My life is close to my ideal in most aspects.” The scale utilizes a 7-point Likert scoring system from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). 

We conducted a sample size calculation based on the primary outcome, growth mindset. According to previous research, an absolute increase of 0.3 or more in growth mindset scores is considered meaningful . With a sample size of 259 subjects, each measured four times, a power of 0.80 can be achieved by utilizing a two-sided Wald test from a GEE analysis to determine whether the average slope of treatment subjects differs from that of control subjects by more than 0.3 at a significance level of 0.05. Considering a dropout rate of 40%, it is concluded that this trial requires at least 432 individuals in total, with 216 in each of the control and intervention groups. 

All study data were managed using EpiData 3.1 software. Data entry was conducted by two independent personnel, with double-entry verification employed to ensure accuracy. Descriptive analyses will be performed, and data will be presented as means and standard deviations or as percentages. Chi-square and independent t-tests will be used to determine differences for binary and continuous variables respectively, between the intervention and control group. Analyses will be performed using the SPSS 26.0 software. The Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model will be utilized to examine the intervention effect. A value of p ≤ 0.05 will be considered statistically significant for all analyses. 

The aging population is an urgent problem. The study plans to design and implement a growth mindset intervention program aimed at promoting older people’s autonomy to achieve the goal of active aging. Previous research has shown that individuals with growth mindset are more likely to accept challenges, persevere in the face of setbacks, and view failures as opportunities for growth . By improving the growth mindset of older people, we hope to help them overcome ageism, stimulate their autonomy, promote more active participation in social activities, and adopt proactive health and self-security behaviors. Specifically, through the growth mindset intervention content, combined with the innovative intervention method of group psychological counseling, older people will be guided to reconstruct their beliefs about whether their intelligence, personality, health, and self-security ability can be improved. They will develop strategies for self-improvement and sustainable growth, which not only promote active learning behavior but also promotes active health, active participation, and active self-security behaviors, transforming active aging behaviors into lasting behavioral habits to achieve active aging. This study represents a pioneering effort to develop a group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention program aimed at promoting older people’s autonomy and encouraging their adoption of active aging behaviors. In addition, the innovation points include theoretical, practical, and methodological dimensions. Theoretically, this study employs the active aging framework to enhance the autonomy of older people, expanding beyond the previous active aging frameworks which have mainly been applied to environmental interventions. This study will verify the applicability of growth mindset theory in behavioral interventions tailored for older people. Additionally, the study incorporates the three pillars of health, participation, and security for active aging, thus broadening the scope of prior research, which predominantly focused on health aspects alone. Methodologically, the study adopts a combination of online and offline intervention methods, providing resource support for online intervention after the offline intervention ends, promoting the transformation of aging behaviors of older people into lasting behavioral habits. Besides, this study evaluates the intervention effect using a combination of active aging and positive psychology orientation indicators and measures participation in lectures as a real-world indicator of active learning behavior, objectively evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention. Practically, this study will present a structured and scalable group psychological counseling-based growth mindset intervention program for older people, offering a novel pathway to foster active aging behaviors and tackle the critical challenges posed by population aging. Furthermore, the study will adopt the TDF to evaluate the promoting factors and obstacles of the intervention program, providing policy recommendations. This study has considerable research significance. Firstly, this study fills the research gap on the relationship between growth mindset and active aging behavior in older people. By applying growth mindset into the guidance of active aging behavior among older people, we can deeply explore the impact mechanism of growth mindset on their physical and mental health, social participation, and self-security behavior, providing theoretical support for the realization of active aging. In addition, older people often face challenges such as self-awareness and social role transformation. Cultivating growth mindset can help older people stimulate their autonomy, re-examine their potential and development possibilities, establish beliefs in self-improvement and sustainable growth, and promote the transformation of these beliefs into practical actions. Promoting active aging behavior among older people can help prevent geriatric diseases and effectively alleviate social pressure on older people’s care. Moreover, by continuously improving intervention plans and evaluation methods, a structured and scalable growth mindset intervention program can be provided to cultivate active aging behaviors among older people, promoting the development of aging research in a more in-depth and practical direction, and providing more effective solutions for addressing an aging society. This study has several notable advantages. Firstly, we provide an innovative and suitable intervention program for older people based on growth mindset and active aging theory, combined with group psychological counseling technique. A community-based randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention program in older people. In addition, to promote the modification and improvement of the intervention program, TDF will be introduced to evaluate the potential promoting factors and obstacles to implementing the intervention. One potential limitation of this study is compliance issues. Due to the four growth mindset intervention sessions, maintaining compliance is a significant issue. To address this issue, the research group will conduct in-depth exchanges with the community and establish good relationships with community workers and participants. The study will also recruit and train volunteers to assist in implementing intervention measures and ensuring the experiment’s effectiveness. 

