TalkLife: Mental Health Support Groups Online

Children, adolescents, and young adults (age less than 25 years)

TalkLife: Mental Health Support Groups Online is a mental health app that is designed to offer a way to get instant support through communities that are there when a person needs it and for as long as they need it.

• Anonymous, safe spaces where people feel able to share
• No waiting times, no stigma, no judgement. Just instant, ongoing support
• Based on peer support and social connection
• Intuitive, familiar, and engaging using the best elements of social networking
• Download via App Store or Google Play and access anytime, anywhere
• Clinically governed with real-time safeguarding and moderation

• Agency/Affiliation: TalkLife
• Website: https://www.talklife.com/
• Email: research@talklife.co

Manual Information

There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is no training available for this program.

Child Welfare Outcome: Child/Family Well-Being

"What is included the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?"

• Kruzan, K. P., Whitlock, J., Bazarova, N. N., Bhandari, A., & Chapman, J. (2022). Use of a mobile peer support app among young people with nonsuicidal self-injury: Small-scale randomized controlled trial. JMIR Formative Research, 6(1), Article e26526. https://doi.org/10.2196/26526

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Participants: 131

  Sample / Population:

  • Age — 16–25 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
  • Gender — 89 Female, 24 Male, 15 Nonbinary, and 3 Other
  • Status —

    Participants were individuals with current (within 3 months) and chronic (>6 episodes in the past year) nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) history.
    

  Location/Institution: North America, European Union, and United Kingdom

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to provide preliminary insight into the shorter and longer-term efficacy of the use of a peer support app, TalkLife, in reducing nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) frequency and urges and increasing readiness to change. In addition, contact with informal support, interest in therapy, and attitudes toward professional help–seeking were explored. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (TalkLife) or to a control group. Measures utilized include the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire and the Non-Suicidal Self-Injury-Assessment Tool (NSSI-AT). Results indicate that there was a significant effect of condition on NSSI frequency, such that the participants using the peer support app (TalkLife) self-injured less over the course of the study than those in the control condition. Results also evidenced a significant condition effect of readiness to change, such that the treatment participants (TalkLife) reported greater confidence in their ability to change their NSSI behavior than the control participants. No significant differences were observed for contact with informal support, interest in therapy, or attitudes toward professional help–seeking. Limitations include the study is underpowered to detect small effect sizes, the sample may have been more motivated to engage in research (and thus with the intervention) than the average individual engaging in NSSI, and exclusion criteria affect the generalizability of findings to individuals with more severe suicidality.
  

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 1 and 2 months.

There are currently no references available for TalkLife: Mental Health Support Groups Online.