Tech Connect: An Intervention to Promote Treatment Engagement for Adolescents with Depression

Poor treatment engagement remains a challenge in effectively treating adolescents with depression. This exploratory 2-arm RCT aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of Tech Connect for promoting treatment engagement among adolescents. Twenty youth with depression were randomized to Tech Connect (treatment) or standard community-based mental health care (control). Study aims included: (1) assess the feasibility and acceptability of Tech Connect between-session contacts for adolescents, their parents, and treatment providers and (2) conduct a preliminary analysis of engagement and mental health outcomes. Significant differences were found between the number of treatment sessions attended by the Tech Connect and control group (t = 2.00; p < .05). Adolescents receiving Tech Connect attended 91.3% (mean = 7.5 sessions; SD = 1.58) of their initial eight sessions, while 66.3% (mean = 5.3 sessions; SD = 3.09) attended in the control condition. Tech Connect is a novel, technologically-driven intervention that proved effective in improving treatment engagement among adolescents with depression.