Phone-based text-therapy for youth mental health: a rapid review (Preprint)

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 counselling is an under-utilised therapeutic approach in combatting adolescent mental illness. Phone-based text-therapy is uniquely placed to offer personalised counselling 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. Eligibility criteria was formed through the PICO (Population, Intervention, Control, Outcome) framework, and studies were included if a synchronous, phone-based text-therapy intervention was utilised in an adolescent population. RESULTS Of the 771 studies dual screened, 7 studies were included in this rapid review. All interventional trials demonstrated reductions in mental health symptoms, primarily depression and anxiety. Most studies displayed high usability amongst participants, while data was 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.