Text-based therapy: A new study has found that text-based psychotherapy can work just as well as weekly video sessions for people receiving treatment for depression.
The research, published in JAMA Network Open, analysed outcomes from 850 adults who used either message-based therapy or live video therapy on an online mental health platform. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two formats for 12 weeks.
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“We found that patients improved at similar rates, regardless of whether they were communicating with their therapist through messaging or live video calls,” said Patricia A. Areán, a retired professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a senior author of the paper. She said the findings support text-based therapy as a credible, evidence-backed option for millions of people living with depression.
Patients who showed little progress after six weeks were later re-assigned to a mix of both approaches. By the end of the trial, both groups saw similar reductions in depression symptoms and improvements in daily functioning.
Researchers noted that people in the video-therapy group were slightly more likely to drop out early, while those using message-based therapy appeared to benefit from its flexibility and ease of access.
“Depression is one of the leading causes of disability and mortality worldwide,” said lead author Michael Pullmann, formerly a research professor in psychiatry at the University of Washington. “Message-based psychotherapy can help reach patients who might otherwise struggle to access care,” he added.
The authors said broader insurance coverage for message-based services could make treatment more widely available. The study was conducted jointly by the University of Washington School of Medicine and Talkspace and was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
