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Evaluating a Peer-Support Mobile App for Mental Health and Substance Use Among Adolescents Over 12 Months During the
Louise Birrell1, Jennifer Debenham1, Ainsley Furneaux-Bate1
1The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Background:
Although it is well known that adolescents frequently turn to their friends for support around mental health and substance use problems, there are currently no evidence-based digital programs to support them to do this.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Mind your Mate program, a digital peer-support program, in improving mental health symptoms, reducing the uptake of substance use, and increasing help seeking. The Mind your Mate program consists of a 40-minute web-based classroom lesson and a companion smartphone mobile app. The active control group received school-based health education as usual.
Methods:
A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with 12 secondary schools and 166 students (mean age 15.3, SD 0.41 years; 72/166, 43.4% female; and 133/166, 80.1% born in Australia). Participants completed self-reported questionnaires assessing symptoms of mental health (depression, anxiety, and psychological distress), substance use (alcohol and other drug use), and help-seeking measures at baseline and at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups.
Results:
Students who received the Mind your Mate program had greater reductions in depressive symptoms over a 12-month period than controls (b=-1.86, 95% CI -3.73 to 0.02; Cohen d=-0.31). Anxiety symptoms decreased among students in the intervention group; however, these reductions did not meet statistical significance thresholds. No differences were observed in relation to psychological distress or help-seeking.
Conclusions:
Small to moderate reductions in depression symptoms were observed among students allocated to receive the Mind your Mate intervention. Although the current results are encouraging, there is a need to continue to refine, develop, and evaluate innovative applied approaches for the prevention of mental disorders in real-world settings.
Trial Registration:
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12620000753954; https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12620000753954.
International Registered Report Identifier (Irrid):
RR2-10.2196/26796.
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