Text4Hope: Receiving Daily Supportive Text Messages for 3 Months During the COVID-19 Pandemic Reduces Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2021.27
• Publication Date: 2021-02-08T04:55:19Z
• Authors: Vincent I.O. Agya...; Marianne Hrabok; Reham Shalaby; Wesley Vuong; Jasmine M. Noble; April Gusnowski; Kelly Mrklas; Daniel Li; Liana Urichuck; Mark Snaterse; Shireen Surood; Bo Cao; Xin-Min Li; Russell Greiner; Andrew J. Greenshaw
• Keywords: Text Messaging; Depression; Brief Report; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; COVID-19; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Humans; Pandemics

AbstractBackground:This study reports on the changes in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms of subscribers after 3 months using Text4Hope, a supportive text messaging program designed to provide support during the pandemic.Methods:Standardized self-report measures were used to evaluate perceived stress (measured with the Perceived Stress Scale-10 [PSS-10]), anxiety (measured with the General Anxiety Disorder Scale 7 [GAD-7]), and depressive symptoms (measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9]), at baseline and 3rd month (n = 373).Results:After 3 months of using Text4Hope, subscribers’ self-reports revealed significant (p< 0.001) mean score reductions compared with baseline on: the GAD-7 by 22.7%, PHQ-9 by 10.3%, and PSS-10 scores by 5.7%. Reductions in inferred prevalence rates for moderate to high symptoms were also observed, with anxiety demonstrating the largest reduction (15.7%).Conclusions:Observed Text4Hope-related reductions in psychological distress during COVID-19 indicate that Text4Hope is an effective, convenient, and accessible means of implementing a population-level psychological intervention.