The proposed study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Help Texts, a weekly text-based program, among bereaved students at UCLA. Specifically, the study will evaluate whether Help Texts reduces grief severity and symptoms of depression, and whether it improves academic functioning (e.g., graduation, grades, student enrollment retention). The investigators hypothesize that bereaved UCLA students who receive a 12-month Help Texts weekly digital text intervention will have reduced grief severity and depressive symptoms and increased academic functioning compared to bereaved UCLA students in a waitlist control condition receiving treatment as usual (i.e., list of resources for grief). Participants will complete surveys at four timepoints: baseline and 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months following enrollment. They will be randomly assigned to either the treatment condition (receive 12-month Help Texts subscription at enrollment) or the waitlist control condition (receive list of resources for grief at enrollment, and receive 12-month Help Texts subscription at 6 months following enrollment). The Help Texts program involves texts offering psychoeducation related to grief and coping strategies, delivered twice weekly.
Grief and loss are common occurrences among students on college campuses but are inadequately addressed and associated with a number of negative outcomes. A mixed methods study of grieving students on a large campus found that 60% of those surveyed within a 3-year period at UCLA reported experiencing the loss of a loved one, but only 8% reported using campus resources to aid them during their grief, and only 38% sought resources off-campus (e.g., therapy, support groups, psychiatry). Numerous barriers to accessing grief support resources have been identified, including not knowing about them or perceiving them to be inadequate. Moreover, over one-third of participants interviewed in the study noted stigma associated with help-seeking. Despite a high prevalence of experiences of grief among students, resource utilization for supporting bereavement remains low. Help Texts offers text message-based grief support, overcoming the barriers of access and stigma by providing up to a year of private, evidence-based grief support developed by clinical psychologists. Help Texts is an established company (specifically, a Public Benefit Corporation) and is currently in use. It was founded in 2018 and comprises a fully remote, 7-person team with over 100+ additional Expert Contributors providing expertise on different types of loss (e.g., the loss of a sibling, child, parent, partner; loss to cancer, dementia, suicide, COVID-19, etc); and the unique risks associated with being a caregiver, veteran, or member of the LGBTQIA2S+ or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Help Texts is delivering support in 57 countries, in all 50 states in the U.S., and in 27 languages. Help Texts provides twice-weekly, one-way texts offering basic grief education by normalizing and validating the grief experience and then offering tips for coping within various themes around grief. Preliminary evidence suggests that bereaved users of HelpTexts have found it supportive; 95% of all users rated their satisfaction with HelpTexts as a 4 or 5 out of 5 and found the text messages helpful. The proposed study is a randomized control trial that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Help Texts to grieving students at UCLA in reducing grief severity and symptoms of depression, preventing prolonged grief and major depressive disorder, and in improving quality of life and occupational functioning (e.g., graduation, grades, student enrollment retention).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
126
Participants will receive treatment as usual, consisting of a list of resources for coping with grief both on-campus and off-campus
Help Texts delivers texts twice a week over a period of 12-months to provide psychoeducation, validation, and coping strategies relevant to bereavement. The The texts offer some customization in specifying the name of the participant and their deceased loved one, as well as providing texts relevant to the participants' cause of bereavement and relationship to their deceased loved one.
Franz Hall
Los Angeles, California, United States
RECRUITINGProlonged Grief Disorder-Revised (PG-13-R)
PG-13-R measures symptoms of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) mapping onto the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual's conceptualization of clinical grief. The measure assesses symptoms such as yearning for the deceased close person, avoiding reminders of their death, and feelings of loneliness in relation to the death. Each item is rated from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Overwhelmingly). Total scores range from 10 to 50, with higher scores representing more severe prolonged grief.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-3)
The PHQ-3 measures symptoms of depression over the last 2 weeks, including loss of interest in things, feeling down or hopeless, and feeling tired. Each item is rated from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day). Total scores range from 0 to 9, with higher scores representing more severe symptoms of depression.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
Academic Functioning - GPA
Participants' current overall GPA will be measured. From highest to lowest, the GPA options will be the following: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+ or below, with A+ representing the highest possible current overall GPA.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
Academic Functioning - Negative Impacts to Academic Performance
The investigators will assess the number of days that participants felt that emotional or mental difficulties hurt their academic performance. Participants can select the following options: None (0), 1-2 days (1), 3-5 days (2), 6 or more days (3), with scores ranging from 0 to 3. Higher scores indicate more days that participants felt their academic performance was hurt by their emotional or mental difficulties.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
Academic Functioning - Class Enrollment Status
Participants will indicate whether or not they are currently registered for classes at UCLA. They will respond Yes (1) or No (0), with a higher score indicating that they are currently registered for classes.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
Academic Functioning - Dropped Course
Another academic outcome measured will be whether or not participants dropped a course in the past quarter. This will be dichotomously scored as Yes (1) or No (0), with a higher score indicating endorsement of having dropped a course in the past quarter.
Time frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment
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