BullyDown, a Text Messaging-based Bullying Prevention Program for Middle School-aged Youth

Center for Innovative Public Health Research138 enrolled

Overview

Given the limited impact of existing school-based interventions and the time associated with implementing them during school time, more efficient and effective intervention methods are needed. Programs that can be delivered to middle school youth irrespective of whether they are attending school physically or virtually may be especially relevant as school boundaries become more fluid. BullyDown addresses this critical need by providing a scalable program that could be quickly and cost-effectively disseminated nationally.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

138

Conditions

Bullying

Interventions

BullyDownBEHAVIORAL

BullyDown is an 8 week, text messaging-based prevention program aimed to prevent bullying behaviors among middle school-aged youth. Message content is based upon the social-emotional learning model.

Attention-matched controlBEHAVIORAL

The attention-matched control will receive the messages for the same number of days as the intervention. Content will talk about 'healthy lifestyle' topics, such as fitness and healthy social media use.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 12 YearsMax age: 14 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Participants will: be enrolled in one of our partner schools, be in middle school (i.e., 7th or 8th grade) or between the ages of 12-14 years of age, be English-speaking, own their own cell phone, intend to have the same cell phone number for at least 3 months (this may or may not apply, depending on the number of youth who meet this criterion), and provide informed written assent. Non-English speakers and youth who do not have the reading ability to complete the screener are not eligible. Youth recruited from schools will also be required to have parental permission.

Locations (2)

Center for Innovative Public Health Research

San Clemente, California, United States

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Feasibility: Recruitment Rate

If at least 75% of eligible participants assent to participate, this will be supportive of a hypothesis of feasibility. Note that a youth could assent and not be randomized if they did not complete the baseline survey.

Time frame: Recruitment period

Acceptability of the Intervention

Youth were asked: "How likely are you to recommend BullyDown to other people your age?" Answers were collected on a 5-point Likert scale. The response option ranged from 1-5, with higher values reflecting greater acceptability. An average score of 4 or higher was deemed supportive of program acceptability.

Time frame: Intervention end, 9 weeks after program enrollment

Feasibility: Retention at 3-month Follow-up

A retention rate of 80% or higher was deemed to be supportive of a hypothesis of feasibility

Time frame: 21 weeks post-randomization, 3 months after the 9-week program ended

Secondary Outcomes

Feasibility: Retention Rate at Program End

A retention rate of 80% or higher was deemed supportive of a hypothesis of feasibility.

Time frame: 9 weeks post-randomization

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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