Text4Hope Effectiveness in Reducing Psychological Symptoms among Young Adults in Canada: Longitudinal and Naturalistic Controlled Program Evaluation

Abstract

Background: Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression are psychological problems that can hurt young adults, interfering with their everyday function, academic achievement, and interpersonal relationships. This study aimed to assess the impact of Text4Hope, an online mental health service, on the psychological well-being of young adults. Methods: This study adopted both longitudinal and naturalistic controlled trial designs. It examined clinical outcomes in young adult (≤26 years old) subscribers of Text4Hope who completed surveys at baseline and six weeks and compared clinical parameters in two groups of subscribers. The first group comprised the intervention group (IG) (young adult subscribers who received once-daily supportive text messages for six weeks and completed sixth-week evaluation measures between 26 April and 12 July 2020), and the second group was the control group (CG) (young adult subscribers who joined Text4Hope in the same time frame and completed a baseline survey and were yet to receive any text messages). The prevalence of moderate to high stress, anxiety, and depression was measured at baseline and six weeks in the longitudinal study and between the two groups for the naturalistic controlled study using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Inferential statistics, including the t-test, McNemar test, chi-square, and binary logistic regression analyses, were used to evaluate the differences in the prevalence and severity of the psychological symptoms. Results: In the longitudinal study, of the 9214 subscribers to Text4Hope who completed the baseline survey, 1047 (11.4%) were identified as youth. For the young adult subscribers who completed both the baseline and sixth-week surveys (n = 114), a significant reduction in the prevalence of moderate to high stress (8%) and likely GAD (20%) from baseline to six weeks was reported. Similarly, there was a significant reduction in the mean scores on the PSS-10, GAD-7, and Composite Mental Health score but not the PHQ-9 from baseline to six weeks. The largest reduction in mean scores was for the GAD-7 scale (18.4%), with a small effect size overall. For the naturalistic study, the IG included 173 young adult subscribers of Text4Hope who completed the sixth-week survey compared to 92 subscribers in the CG who completed the baseline survey during the designated period. There was a significantly lower prevalence for likely Moderate Depressive Disorder (MDD) (25.2%) and suicidal thoughts/thoughts of self-harm (48.4%), with a small effect size in the IG compared to the CG. Similarly, lower mean scores were reported for all outcome variables in the IG compared to the CG, with a small to medium effect size. The receipt of daily supportive text messages for six weeks resulted in significantly lower odds of both likely GAD and experiencing thoughts of self-harm or death wish while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusions: The Text4Hope service is an effective tool for mental health support for young adult subscribers. Young adults receiving the service exhibited a reduction in psychological symptoms, including thoughts of self-harm or death wish. This population-level intervention program can be used to effectively support young adult mental health and in suicide prevention programs.