Mental Health Mobile Apps for Preadolescents and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

There are an increasing number of mobile apps available for adolescents with mental health problems and an increasing interest in assimilating mobile health (mHealth) into mental health services. Despite the growing number of apps available, the evidence base for their efficacy is unclear.

Objective

This review aimed to systematically appraise the available research evidence on the efficacy and acceptability of mobile apps for mental health in children and adolescents younger than 18 years.

Methods

The following were systematically searched for relevant publications between January 2008 and July 2016: APA PsychNet, ACM Digital Library, Cochrane Library, Community Care Inform-Children, EMBASE, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Social Policy and Practice, Web of Science, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, and OpenGrey. Abstracts were included if they described mental health apps (targeting depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, self-harm, suicide prevention, conduct disorder, eating disorders and body image issues, schizophrenia, psychosis, and insomnia) for mobile devices and for use by adolescents younger than 18 years.

Results

A total of 24 publications met the inclusion criteria. These described 15 apps, two of which were available to download. Two small randomized trials and one case study failed to demonstrate a significant effect of three apps on intended mental health outcomes. Articles that analyzed the content of six apps for children and adolescents that were available to download established that none had undergone any research evaluation. Feasibility outcomes suggest acceptability of apps was good and app usage was moderate.

Conclusions

Overall, there is currently insufficient research evidence to support the effectiveness of apps for children, preadolescents, and adolescents with mental health problems. Given the number and pace at which mHealth apps are being released on app stores, methodologically robust research studies evaluating their safety, efficacy, and effectiveness is promptly needed.

Related collections

Most cited references 44

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Prior juvenile diagnoses in adults with mental disorder: developmental follow-back of a prospective-longitudinal cohort.

Julia Kim-Cohen, Avshalom Caspi, Terrie E Moffitt … (2003)

If most adults with mental disorders are found to have a juvenile psychiatric history, this would shift etiologic research and prevention policy to focus more on childhood mental disorders. Our prospective longitudinal study followed up a representative birth cohort (N = 1037). We made psychiatric diagnoses according to DSM criteria at 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, and 26 years of age. Adult disorders were defined in the following 3 ways: (1) cases diagnosed using a standardized diagnostic interview, (2) the subset using treatment, and (3) the subset receiving intensive mental health services. Follow-back analyses ascertained the proportion of adult cases who had juvenile diagnoses and the types of juvenile diagnoses they had. Among adult cases defined via the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, 73.9% had received a diagnosis before 18 years of age and 50.0% before 15 years of age. Among treatment-using cases, 76.5% received a diagnosis before 18 years of age and 57.5% before 15 years of age. Among cases receiving intensive mental health services, 77.9% received a diagnosis before 18 years of age and 60.3% before 15 years of age. Adult disorders were generally preceded by their juvenile counterparts (eg, adult anxiety was preceded by juvenile anxiety), but also by different disorders. Specifically, adult anxiety and schizophreniform disorders were preceded by a broad array of juvenile disorders. For all adult disorders, 25% to 60% of cases had a history of conduct and/or oppositional defiant disorder. Most adult disorders should be reframed as extensions of juvenile disorders. In particular, juvenile conduct disorder is a priority prevention target for reducing psychiatric disorder in the adult population.

0 comments Cited 519 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Life course outcomes of young people with anxiety disorders in adolescence.

L. J. WOODWARD, D M Fergusson (2001)

This study examined associations between the extent of anxiety disorder in adolescence (14-16 years) and young people's later risks of a range of mental health, educational, and social role outcomes (16-21 years). Data were gathered over the course of a 21-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand children. Measures collected included (1) an assessment of DSM-III-R anxiety disorders between the ages of 14 and 16 years; (2) assessments of mental health, educational achievement, and social functioning between the ages of 16 and 21 years; and (3) measures of potentially confounding social, family, and individual factors. Significant linear associations were found between the number of anxiety disorders reported in adolescence and later risks of anxiety disorder; major depression; nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drug dependence; suicidal behavior; educational underachievement; and early parenthood. Associations between the extent of adolescent anxiety disorder and later risks of anxiety disorder, depression, illicit drug dependence, and failure to attend university were shown to persist after statistical control for the confounding effects of sociofamilial and individual factors. Findings suggest that adolescents with anxiety disorders are at an increased risk of subsequent anxiety, depression, illicit drug dependence, and educational underachievement as young adults. Clinical and research implications are considered.

0 comments Cited 231 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

mHealth: a mechanism to deliver more accessible, more effective mental health care.

Matthew Antony Price, Erica Yuen, Elizabeth M Goetter … (2013)

The increased popularity and functionality of mobile devices has a number of implications for the delivery of mental health services. Effective use of mobile applications has the potential to (a) increase access to evidence-based care; (b) better inform consumers of care and more actively engage them in treatment; (c) increase the use of evidence-based practices; and (d) enhance care after formal treatment has concluded. The current paper presents an overview of the many potential uses of mobile applications as a means to facilitate ongoing care at various stages of treatment. Examples of current mobile applications in behavioural treatment and research are described, and the implications of such uses are discussed. Finally, we provide recommendations for methods to include mobile applications into current treatment and outline future directions for evaluation. Mobile devices are becoming increasingly common among the adult population and have tremendous potential to advance clinical care. Mobile applications have the potential to enhance clinical care at stages of treatment-from engaging patients in clinical care to facilitating adherence to practices and in maintaining treatment gains. Research is needed to validate the efficacy and effectiveness of mobile applications in clinical practice. Research on such devices must incorporate assessments of usability and adherence in addition to their incremental benefit to treatment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

0 comments Cited 163 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Rebecca Grist:

Child and Adolescent Mental Health GroupDepartment for HealthUniversity of BathWessex HouseClaverton DownBath, BA2 7AYUnited Kingdom44 2253850 ext 8644 1225 383282r.grist@bath.ac.uk

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4285-5272

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J. Med. Internet Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMIR

Title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Print): 1439-4456

ISSN (Electronic): 1438-8871

Publication date Collection: May 2017

Publication date (Electronic): 25 May 2017

Volume: 19

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: e176

Affiliations

[1] ¹Child and Adolescent Mental Health Group Department for Health University of Bath BathUnited Kingdom

[2] ²Child and Family Mental Health Temple House Oxford Health National Health Service Foundation Trust KeynshamUnited Kingdom

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Rebecca Grist r.grist@ 123456bath.ac.uk

Author information

Rebecca Grist http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4285-5272

Joanna Porter http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6971-1105

Paul Stallard http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8046-0784

Article

Publisher ID: v19i5e176

DOI: 10.2196/jmir.7332

PMC ID: 5465380

PubMed ID: 28546138

SO-VID: 72c39f02-9592-4996-99cf-eca63a8f6b1a

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 23 January 2017

Date revision requested : 9 March 2017

Date revision received : 27 March 2017

Date accepted : 7 April 2017

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 168

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 693

See all reference authors

- Version 1

Submit your digital health research with an established publisher
- celebrating 25 years of open access