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The ubiquity of mobile phones and users' devotion to them make these devices an ideal platform to test health interventions. To examine the usefulness of a cellphone-delivered depression prevention program, researchers conducted a multisite, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 9-week study involving about 850 nondepressed high school students in New Zealand.
Students with baseline suicidality or scores in the depressed range were excluded. The studied program was based on manual-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT); the active control matched its time intensity and focused on cybersecurity, the environment, and general health. They were delivered twice daily after school in 30-second messages. To diminish message sharing, which…