From the Article Abstract: "Assessing national levels of happiness has become an important research and policy issue in recent years. We examined happiness and satisfaction in Ireland using phone text messaging to collect large-scale longitudinal data from 3,093 members of the general Irish population. For six consecutive weeks, participants’ happiness and satisfaction levels were assessed. For four consecutive weeks (weeks 2–5) a different random third of the sample got feedback on the previous week’s mean happiness and satisfaction ratings. Text messaging proved a feasible means of assessing happiness and satisfaction, with almost three quarters (73%) of participants completing all assessments."

mFHAST Implications: Effectiveness of SMS methods for gathering of Public Health data related to happiness

From the article abstract: "Few studies in developing nations have assessed the use of short messaging services (SMS) to identify psychological challenges in refugee populations. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of SMS-based methods to screen for depression risk among refugees in South Africa attending mental health services, and to compare its reliability and acceptability with face-to-face consultation."

mFHAST Implications: Opportunity for use of SMS to investigate depression with refugee populations

From the article abstract in PubMed: "Mobile technology use, including Short Messaging Service (SMS) text messaging, has increased in health care services. Preferences regarding the type or timing of text messages sent by healthcare providers to people with antipsychotic medication have not yet been fully investigated. This study examines the relationship between patients' demographic characteristics and the tailored messages they select. "

mFHAST Implications: Text message content preferences for populations receiving antipsychotic medication therapy

From the PubMed abstract: "An increasing number of research designs are using text messaging (SMS) as a means of self-reported symptom and outcome monitoring in a variety of long-term health conditions, including severity ratings of depressed mood. The validity of such a single item SMS score to measure latent depression is not currently known and is vital if SMS data are to inform clinical evaluation in the future."

mFHAST Implications: Opportunity for use of SMS for self-reported outcomes within mental health populations

A study involving the use of text messages for tele-therapy found that the majority of those receiving text therapy vs no therapy at all reported doing better.