Help Texts Grief Intervention for Bereaved College Students
ConditionBereavement
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorUniversity of California, Los Angeles
About this trial
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.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Enrolled UCLA student
At least 18 years old
Experienced death of a close person in the past 12 months
Able to read English
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
list of resources for grief
BehavioralParticipants will receive treatment as usual, consisting of a list of resources for coping with grief both on-campus and off-campus
text-based intervention for grief
BehavioralHelp 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.
Treatment groups
126 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Waitlist Control with Treatment as UsualOther 2 interventions
Group B: TreatmentActive comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Prolonged 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 enrollment2
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 enrollmentSecondary outcomes
1
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 enrollment2
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 enrollment3
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 enrollment4
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 enrollmentOther outcomes
1
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
The GAD-7 will assess symptoms of generalized anxiety over the past 2 weeks consistent with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual's conceptualization of generalized anxiety. It will assess symptoms such as being unable to control worrying and having difficulty relaxing. Items will be scored from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day). Total scores will range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms of generalized anxiety.
Time frame
0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollmentSponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
University of California, Los Angeles
Lead sponsor
University of Arizona
Collaborator
Help Texts
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov