Title: The impact of text messaging on minority women's mental well-being

Authors: Cynthia Williams; Jing (Jasper) Xu

Addresses: School of Global Health Management and Informatics, University of Central Florida, 528 W. Livingston Street, Suite 401, Orlando, FL, 32801, USA ' Department of Health Administration, Brooks College of Health, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32224-2646, USA

Abstract: The study proposed to determine if text messaging is a viable means to promote mental well-being among minority women with postpartum stress and depression. A retrospective design was used to examine the study objectives. Assessment tools included: the Perceived Stress Scale and the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale. Scores from the discharge assessment were used in the analysis. Chi-Square Test of Independence and Analysis of Variance method were applied to the categorical data and continuous variables, respectively. The results suggest text message does not have an aversive effect on mental health and could be viable alternative in women's mental health.

Keywords: postpartum depression; mental health; text message; mobile health; health equity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2023.132456

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2023 Vol.20 No.3, pp.276 - 286

Received: 22 Sep 2021
Accepted: 21 Oct 2022
Published online: 20 Jul 2023 *

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