Evaluating a Peer-Support Mobile App for Mental Health and Substance Use Among Adolescents Over 12 Months During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial

Louise Birrell; Jennifer Debenham; Ainsley Furneaux-Bate; Katrina Prior; Sophia Spallek; Louise Thornton; Catherine Chapman; Nicola Newton

doi:10.2196/45216

Evaluating a Peer-Support Mobile App for Mental Health and Substance Use Among Adolescents Over 12 Months During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial

J Med Internet Res. 2023 Sep 27:25:e45216. doi: 10.2196/45216.

Authors

Louise Birrell¹, Jennifer Debenham¹, Ainsley Furneaux-Bate¹, Katrina Prior¹, Sophia Spallek¹, Louise Thornton¹, Catherine Chapman^#¹, Nicola Newton^#¹

Affiliation

¹ The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37756116
PMCID: PMC10538359
DOI: 10.2196/45216

Abstract

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescent; anxiety; depression; eHealth; mHealth; mental health; mobile apps; mobile phone; peer support; prevention; psychosocial support systems; school-based; social support; substance use.

©Louise Birrell, Jennifer Debenham, Ainsley Furneaux-Bate, Katrina Prior, Sophia Spallek, Louise Thornton, Catherine Chapman, Nicola Newton. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 27.09.2023.