TY  - JOUR
AU  - Karnik, Varun
AU  - Henderson, Hamish
AU  - Khan, Urooj Raza
AU  - Boyd, James
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/12/14
TI  - Phone-Based Text Therapy for Youth Mental Health: Rapid Review
JO  - Interact J Med Res
SP  - e47250
VL  - 12
KW  - text therapy
KW  - mHealth
KW  - adolescent health
KW  - distance counseling
KW  - mental illness
KW  - mobile health intervention
KW  - adolescent
KW  - health promotion
KW  - digital mental health intervention
AB  - Background: Mental illness has become a prevalent issue impacting adolescents worldwide. Many barriers, including stigma and poor health literacy, prevent this population group from accessing reliable mental health care services. Synchronous text–therapy counseling is an underused therapeutic approach in combating adolescent mental illness. Phone-based text therapy is uniquely placed to offer personalized counseling to adolescents through a familiar and engaging treatment modality. Objective: This rapid review aims to understand the clinical effectiveness, usability, and accessibility of phone-based text therapy for youth mental health. Methods: Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO were used to search for suitable literature. Five groups of keywords were used: those related to (1) “therapy,” (2) “text,” (3) “phone,” (4) “youth,” and (5) “mental health.” Eligibility criteria were formed through the PICO (Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcome) framework. Studies were included if a synchronous phone-based text therapy intervention was used in an adolescent population, with an age range of 12-24 years. Only literature available in full-text, English, and a peer-reviewed journal was considered. Furthermore, a date limit of 5 years was set to reflect the recent development of digital interventions for mental health. Pertinent information from each study was tabulated, and a narrative synthesis was used to assess, describe, and organize the included studies comprehensively and concisely. Results: Of the 771 studies dual screened, 7 studies were included in this rapid review. Most of the exclusions occurred due to the use of the wrong intervention, such as asynchronous messaging. The selected studies had a low risk of bias and were suitable for the review. All interventional trials demonstrated reductions in mental health symptoms, primarily depression and anxiety. Most studies displayed high usability among participants, while data were unclear regarding accessibility. Conclusions: This review reveals the high potential of phone-based text therapy as an intervention for adolescents experiencing mental illness. We hope that this review promotes further refinement of text-based phone therapies and encourages future research on this subject matter. 
SN  - 1929-073X
UR  - https://www.i-jmr.org/2023/1/e47250
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/47250
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38096012
DO  - 10.2196/47250
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/47250
ER  -