Texts vs. bullies: new program aims to stop bullying via cell phone
NCT ID NCT06017050
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested a program called BullyDown, which sends text messages to middle school students over 8 weeks to help prevent bullying. The messages teach social and emotional skills. 138 students took part, and the study checked if the program was easy to use and if students liked it. It did not measure whether bullying actually went down.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- text-message bullying prevention program (BullyDown)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a scalable, low-cost way to prevent bullying among middle school students, even when learning remotely.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, completed feasibility study with 138 participants. It only measured whether the program was acceptable and could retain participants, not whether it actually reduces bullying.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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138 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Aug 2023
- Finished
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Jun 2024
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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12 to 14 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Participants will: be enrolled in one of our partner schools, be in middle school (i.e., 7th or 8th grade) or between the ages of 12-14 years of age, be English-speaking, own their own cell phone, intend to have the same cell phone number for at least 3 months (this may or may not apply, depending on the number of youth who meet this criterion), and provide informed written assent. Non-English speakers and youth who do not have the reading ability to complete the screener are not eligible. Youth recruited from schools will also be required to have parental permission.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Center for Innovative Public Health Research
San Clemente, California, 92672-6745, United States
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-2100, United States
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