Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2023
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.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Personalization variables in digital mental health interventions for depression and anxiety in adolescents and youth: a scoping review.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of mobile health interventions for mental health literacy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of School-Based Integrated Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention Programs for Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review of the Characteristics of School-Based Integrated Mental Health and Substance Use Prevention Programs for Adolescents Evaluated Through Clinical Trials Between 2016 and 2026.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Primary Prevention Interventions for Problematic Substance Use in Adolescents: A Scoping Review.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2026Review
- Effectiveness and Experiences of Online Mental Health Peer Support for Young People: Systematic Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Review
- A Peer-Led, Narrative-Based, and Mobile-Supported Intervention in Opioid Use Disorder: Multiphase Qualitative and Longitudinal Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Facilitators and Barriers to Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Adolescents and Young Adults: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Family and Friend Support and Psychological Distress in Adolescents.Journal of pediatric health care : official publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & PractitionersArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough 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.
objectiveThe 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.
methodsA 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.
resultsStudents 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.
conclusionsSmall 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 registrationAustralian 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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.