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Help Texts Grief Intervention for Bereaved College Students
Who can join
Ages 18 and older · All sexes
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Enrolled UCLA student * At least 18 years old * Experienced death of a close person in the past 12 months * Able to read English
About the study
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.
What is being tested
- list of resources for grief (behavioral)
- text-based intervention for grief (behavioral)
Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles · Participants: 126 · Started: Oct 30, 2025
Contact the study team
- Michelle Chang, M.A., C.Phil · Phone: (323) 284-4695
- Theodore F. Robles, Ph.D. · Phone: (310) 794-9362
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07228260
Locations in the U.S.
| California | Franz Hall, Los Angeles |
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Oct 1, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.