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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04629755

A Smartphone Intervention for Relational and Mental Well Being

The primary aim of this study is to provide and evaluate a phone-based intervention to improve relational and mental well-being during the COVID-19 crisis. This information also will help us understand how individuals are responding to COVID-19 and have the potential to inform psychological and policy level interventions.

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Key information

Conditions

Depression Behavior Behavioral Symptoms COVID-19 Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Covid19 Infections Loneliness Lung Diseases Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Relation, Interpersonal Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Virus Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington, 98195, United States

About this study

We conducted a randomized intervention trial of a mobile-based intervention that offered participants daily suggestions for 14 days on how to improve relational and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 1765 adults residing in the United States participated in the study and were assigned to control or intervention conditions. To measure outcomes, all participants received a daily text message to their smartphones every evening for 28 days linking to a survey on relational and mental well-being. Participants also received a survey link on Days 56 and 72. Intervention participants received additional text messages in the mornings of Days 7 - 22 presenting the intervention suggestions.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18+
  • Resides in United States
  • Possesses smartphone
  • Willing to share phone number and email to researchers

Exclusion criteria

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Intervention

Behavioral

The intervention was delivered via daily text messages to mobile phones during two weeks in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Each message provided a link to a brief suggestion for an action or actions to take each day to improve relational closeness and well-being. Critical to the rationale for this intervention was the position that relationship science has developed key insights into what works and does not work to build and maintain closeness. These insights could be translated into brief and effective suggestions that individuals could implement daily, thereby quickly improving relational well-being and decreasing depression and loneliness at a critical time.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in depressed mood

    Time frame: Measured every evening for 28 days; the first 6 days constituted baseline measurement; change was assessed over Days 7 - 28 with baseline as a covariate

    Depressed mood was measured using the first two symptom items of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, "I felt down, depressed, or hopeless today" and "I had little interest or pleasure in doing things today"; both were rated with a slider from 0 (None of the time) to 10 (All of the time) with anchors "Some of the time" and "Most of the time" spaced evenly between.

  2. Change in loneliness

    Time frame: Measured every evening for 28 days; the first 6 days constituted baseline measurement; change was assessed over Days 7 - 28 with baseline as a covariate

    Loneliness was measured using two items adapted from the UCLA Loneliness Scale, "I felt lonely today" and "I felt left out today" using a slider from 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Extremely).

  3. Change in relationship quality

    Time frame: Measured every evening for 28 days; the first 6 days constituted baseline measurement; change was assessed over Days 7 - 28 with baseline as a covariate

    Relationship quality was measured using two items, "I felt closer and more connected to important people in my life today" with a slider including 0 (Not at all), 5 (A moderate amount) and 10 (Very much so) and "I felt satisfied with my relationships today" with a slider from 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Extremely).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Washington

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Nov 16, 2020
Registry last updated
Nov 19, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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