NCT07380061

Peer Mentor Texting

Feasibility and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Bidirectional Peer - Mentor Text Messaging Intervention to Promote Perinatal Mental Health: A Pilot Randomized Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 127 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Washington · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study tested whether a peer mentor text message program (called the Nurture program) could help support mental health during pregnancy and after birth. In the study, 127 pregnant people in Washington state were randomly placed to in one of two groups: Nurture group - could text with a trained peer mentor and Control group got automated informational text messages. Researchers looked at how much participants used the program and whether it affected symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress related to parenting. Most people in the Nurture group actively used the program. Nearly all responded to their mentor and there was an average of 32 back and forth text conversations. Mentors usually started more conversations than participants did. People using Nurture had lower anxiety six weeks after giving birth compared to the control group. However there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for depression or parenting stress. The findings suggest that having two way text conversations with peer mentors is well received and may help reduce anxiety soon after birth. More research with larger groups is needed to understand the full benefits and how to make the program widely available.

Conditions

• Perinatal Depression
• Perinatal Anxiety
• Parenting Stress

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Peer mentor texting	If assigned to Nurture (intervention arm), the participant was matched with a mentor from Nurture based on participants responses in their intake form which asked if there was anything in particular that they wanted support with and if there were characteristics that were important to them to share with their mentor. The mentor sent weekly messages based on a library of prompts. Prompts provided resources on child development, connections to local support agencies, and suggestions for parent-child bonding and parental wellness activities.
BEHAVIORAL	Control	If assigned to the control arm, the participant received automated informational texts throughout the period of participation. Participants could not respond to these texts. Information content that is publicly available such as the Babycenter's pregnancy stage information the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) information packets about infant development and milestones as well as various ways to encourage learning and healthy development was used.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-01-12
• Primary completion: 2023-05-04
• Completion: 2023-05-04
• First posted: 2026-02-02
• Last updated: 2026-02-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States