Abstract
There is global pressure to respond to the burden posed by adolescent mental health problems. The National Mental Health Commission has made a call for investment in mobile health services directed at prevention and early intervention to relieve the demand on targeted mental health services that are costly to provide. Parents and primary caregivers play a significant role in the lives of adolescents and are important targets for such efforts. Currently, there is no evidence for the effectiveness of programs delivered solely via text message for parents of adolescents. To evaluate the effects of a text-messaging program (MyTeen) on promoting parental competence and mental health literacy for parents of adolescents. A parallel 2-group randomized clinical trial was conducted in New Zealand. A total of 221 parents and primary caregivers of adolescents aged 10 to 15 years were recruited from March 19 to August 17, 2018, via community outreach and social media and were randomly allocated 1:1 into the control or the intervention group. Statistical analysis was performed on the principle of intention to treat with adjustment for baseline factors and ethnicity. A text-messaging program for parents of adolescents (age 10-15 years) to promote parental competence and mental health literacy. Participants received 1 daily text message over 4 weeks. Parental competence, assessed at 1 month after randomization by the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale. In total, 221 participants (214 [96.8%] female) were randomized, 109 to the intervention group and 112 to the control group; 201 participants (91%) completed the trial at 3 months. Significant group difference was observed on the primary outcome at the end of 1 month of intervention, with participants reporting a higher level of parental competence than those in the control group (estimated mean difference, 3.33 points; 95% CI, 1.37-5.29 points; P = .002). Except for knowledge about mental health, all secondary outcomes were significant, including continued improvement in parental competence at 3 months (estimated mean difference, 4.08 points; 95% CI, 1.96-6.20 points; P < .001), knowledge of help seeking (estimated mean difference, 0.99 points; 95% CI, 0.49-1.50 points; P < .001), parental distress (estimated mean difference, -2.39 points; 95% CI, -4.37 to -0.40 points; P = .02), and parent-adolescent communication (estimated mean difference, 2.21 points; 95% CI, 0.48-3.95 points; P = .01), with participants in the intervention group reporting better parenting-related outcomes than the control group at 1 and 3 months after the intervention. This text-messaging program for parents of adolescents appears to be an effective and feasible way to facilitate the implementation and delivery of evidence-based information to populations that are not easily reached with other intervention modalities. The program can be easily scaled up for delivery as an early preventive intervention and may represent a less expensive option for service delivery. anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12618000117213.
Highlights
Adolescent mental health is a growing concern globally.[1,2,3] In New Zealand, depressive disorder is a major health issue among adolescents, with prevalence rates of 4% to 8% at age 15 years increasing to 17% to 18% by age 18 years.[3]
Significant group difference was observed on the primary outcome at the end of 1 month of intervention, with participants reporting a higher level of parental competence than those in the control group
Except for knowledge about mental health, all secondary outcomes were significant, including continued improvement in parental competence at 3 months, knowledge of help seeking, parental distress, and parent-adolescent communication, with participants in the intervention group reporting better parenting-related outcomes than the control group at 1 and 3 months after the intervention
Summary
Adolescent mental health is a growing concern globally.[1,2,3] In New Zealand, depressive disorder is a major health issue among adolescents, with prevalence rates of 4% to 8% at age 15 years increasing to 17% to 18% by age 18 years.[3] The serious developmental consequences of adolescent depression, and associated treatment challenges once problems have developed, underscore the need for programs aimed at prevention.[4,5]. Compared with interventions directed at parents of young children, few interventions are available for parents of adolescents; more research is needed in this area.[9] Of those available, most interventions have been found to be associated with improved parent-adolescent relationships, parenting practices, parent and adolescent well-being, and family functioning.[4,8,10,11] Efforts that effectively improve parenting practices have great potential in improving youth outcomes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
