Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2021
Date Accepted: May 2, 2022
Awareness, Acceptability, and Perceived Effectiveness of Text-Based Therapy Among Graduate Students: Cross-sectional Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Research has suggested that there is a mental health crisis occurring among graduate students in the United States. Moreover, many students go without effective treatment due to the limited availability of mental and behavioral health resources on college campuses. Text-based therapy may represent a viable method for increasing access to mental health support for graduate students, but little is known regarding its acceptability in this population.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to assess how graduate students perceive text-based therapy and their likelihood of seeking out this form of therapy.
Methods:
Two hundred and sixty-five graduate students (63.0% female, 64.1% White, mean ± SD age = 28.3 ± 5.1 years) completed an online survey assessing perceptions of text-based therapy and their likelihood of seeking out this form of therapy.
Results:
Over half of participants (52.5%) were not aware text-based therapy existed, however 65.3% reported that they would consider using text-based services if available. In comparison to face-to-face therapy, participants reported being less likely to seek out text-based therapy and perceived it as less effective (Ps < .001). Qualitative results indicated that participants were concerned about the ability to effectively communicate and build rapport through text-based therapy and thought that this modality may be more effective for some mental and behavioral health concerns versus others. Moreover, participants noted that text-based therapy would be best implemented as a way to supplement, rather than replace, face-to-face services.
Conclusions:
Taken together, results of the current study suggest that text-based therapy holds potential to increase access to and utilization of mental and behavioral health services; however, graduate students remain concerned about its efficacy and the optimal methods of implementation. Future research should investigate how therapeutic processes (e.g., effective communication and rapport-building) can be facilitated in digital environments and how text-based therapy could best be implemented to supplement and extend, rather than replace, face-to-face services.
Citation
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Copyright
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