Covid19, Depression, Loneliness, Relation, Interpersonal
Conditions
Brief summary
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.
Detailed description
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.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALIntervention
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.
Sponsors
University of Washington
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18+ * Resides in United States * Possesses smartphone * Willing to share phone number and email to researchers
Exclusion criteria
* None
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in depressed mood | 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. |
| Change in loneliness | 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). |
| Change in relationship quality | 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). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed