Help Texts Grief Intervention for Bereaved College Students

Part of paid clinical trials in Los Angeles, California.

Sponsor
University of California, Los Angeles
Study ID
NCT07228260
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Bereavement

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • list of resources for grief — BEHAVIORAL
    Participants 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 — BEHAVIORAL
    Help 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.

Study Details

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.

Key Dates

Start date
Oct 30, 2025
Status verified
Oct 2025
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2027
Completion
Jun 30, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
126 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Other: Waitlist Control with Treatment as Usual
    At study enrollment, participants receive treatment as usual--a list of resources relevant to grief. At 6 months following study enrollment, participants will receive a 12-month subscription to Help Texts, a text-based intervention that delivers two texts per week providing bereavement psychoeducation, validation, and coping strategies.
  • Active Comparator: Treatment
    At study enrollment, participants will receive a 12-month subscription to Help Texts, a text- based intervention that delivers two texts per week providing bereavement psychoeducation, validation, and coping strategies.

Primary Outcome Measure

Prolonged Grief Disorder-Revised (PG-13-R) [ Time Frame: 0 months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months following enrollment ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Franz HallLos AngelesCalifornia90095
Michelle Chang, M.A.
[email protected]
3232844695
Theodore Robles, Ph.D. (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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By research site
Franz Hall· Los Angeles, CA

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