Text Message Interventions in Adolescent Mental Health and Addiction Services: Scoping Review

Abstract

The use of SMS text messaging interventions is a rapidly expanding area of research. However, lack of large-scale controlled trials and theoretically driven intervention designs limits generalizability. Significant gaps in the literature were observed in relation to implementation considerations, cost, clinical workflow, bidirectionality of texting, and level of personalization and tailoring of the interventions. Given the growth of mobile phone-based interventions for this population, a rigorous program of large-scale, well-designed trials is urgently required.