ReviewIndian journal of psychological medicine
Psychotherapeutic Applications of Mobile Phone-based Technologies: A Systematic Review of Current Research and Trends.
Review in Indian journal of psychological medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for adults with substance use disorder that have a co-occurring mental health disorder: an umbrella review and illustrative cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Smartphone apps for mental health: systematic review of the literature and five recommendations for clinical translation.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Smartphone App-Based Psychological Interventions for Reducing Depressive Symptoms in People With Depression: Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Smartphone applications for depression: a systematic literature review and a survey of health care professionals' attitudes towards their use in clinical practice.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Comparing Email Versus Text Messaging as Delivery Platforms for Supporting Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2024Trial
- Mental health apps in India: regulatory landscape and future directions.BJPsych international · 2025Review
- Exploring perceptions of psychology students in Delhi-NCR Region towards using mental health apps to promote resilience: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Technology-based suicide prevention: An umbrella review.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2024Review
- Time to Have Effective Regulation of the Mental Health Apps Market: Maximize Gains and Minimize Harms.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2022Article
- Digital Prompts to Increase Engagement With the Headspace App and for Stress Regulation Among Parents: Feasibility Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Internet- and mobile-based interventions for the treatment of specific phobia: A systematic review and preliminary meta-analysis.Internet interventions · 2021Review
- A Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess Feasibility and Acceptability of Telephone-Based Psychosocial Interventions in Individuals who Attempted Suicide.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2021Article
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of an E-Mental Health Intervention for People Living in Lebanon: Protocol for Two Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR research protocols · 2021Article
- Self-Practice of Stabilizing and Guided Imagery Techniques for Traumatized Refugees via Digital Audio Files: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- Use of a Mobile App to Augment Psychotherapy in a Community Psychiatric Clinic: Feasibility and Fidelity Trial.JMIR formative research · 2020Article
- The PTSD help app in a Danish PTSD population: research protocol of a randomized controlled feasibility trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2020Article
- Multiculturalism and Compassion: Responding to Mental Health Needs Among Refugees and Asylum Seekers Comment on "A Crisis of Humanitarianism: Refugees at the Gates of Europe".International journal of health policy and management · 2019Article
- Managing Distress Using Mobile Prescriptions of Psychological Pills: A First 6-Month Effectiveness Study of the PsyPills App.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Article
- Standalone smartphone apps for mental health-a systematic review and meta-analysis.NPJ digital medicine · 2019Review
- Mobile App Tools for Identifying and Managing Mental Health Disorders in Primary Care.Current treatment options in psychiatry · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is a growing interest in using mobile phone technology to offer real-time psychological interventions and support. However, questions remain on the clinical effectiveness and feasibility of such approaches in psychiatric populations. Our aim was to systematically review the published literature on mobile phone apps and other mobile phone-based technology for psychotherapy in mental health disorders. To achieve this, electronic searches of PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were carried out in January 2016. Generated abstracts were systematically screened for eligibility to be included in the review. Studies employing psychotherapy in any form, being delivered through mobile-based technology and reporting core mental health outcomes in mental illness were included in the study. We also included trials in progress with published protocols reporting at least some outcome measures of such interventions. From a total of 1563 search results, 24 eligible articles were identified and reviewed. These included trials in anxiety disorders (8), substance use disorders (5), depression (4), bipolar disorders (3), schizophrenia and psychotic disorders (3), and attempted suicide (1). Of these, eight studies involved the use of smartphone apps and others involved personalized text messages, automated programs, or delivered empirically supported treatments. Trial lengths varied from 6 weeks to 1 year. Good overall retention rates indicated that the treatments were feasible and largely acceptable. Benefits were reported on core outcomes in mental health illness indicating efficacy of such approaches though sample sizes were small. To conclude, mobile phone-based psychotherapies are a feasible and acceptable treatment option for patients with mental disorders. However, there remains a paucity of data on their effectiveness in real-world settings, especially from low- and middle-income countries.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.