Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34045994›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2021

Effectiveness of Mobile App-Based Psychological Interventions for College Students: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Carla Oliveira, Anabela Pereira, Paula Vagos, Catarina Nóbrega, José Gonçalves, Beatriz Afonso

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in psychology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
9.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Modeling the reciprocal dynamic between alcohol and suicide urges among college students: Ecological momentary assessment study.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Carla OliveiraDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
Anabela PereiraDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
Paula VagosDepartment of Psychology and Education, Portucalense Institute for Human Development (INPP), Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal.
Catarina NóbregaDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
José GonçalvesDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
Beatriz AfonsoDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
University of Aveiro · PTUniversidade Portucalense · PT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Serious mental health disorders are increasing among college students and university counseling services are often overburdened. Mobile applications for mental health have been growing exponentially in the last decade and they are emerging in university settings as a promising tool to promote and intervene in college students' mental health. Additionally, considering the recent covid-19 pandemic, mHealth interventions, due to its nature and possibilities, may play an important role in these institutions. Our main objectives are to explore mhealth interventions in universities, regarding its conceptual framework, acceptability and efficacy outcomes and understand its impact and contributions to address treatment delivery and psychological difficulties resulting from covid-19 pandemic. The literature search was conducted in scientific databases, namely, Web of Science, Pubmed, and Scopus. A search in app stores was not conducted, thus regarding commercially available apps, only those found in our database search were included in our review. We selected studies with mobile applications addressing psychological interventions for college students. A total of 2,158 participants were included in the 8 selected studies and most interventions were delivered through mobile apps only and based in cognitive behavioral therapy. Results suggested that college students accept and adhere to these interventions and preliminary evidence of efficacy was demonstrated in different disorders, such as stress, anxiety, depression and risky behaviors such as alcohol and tobacco abuse and sexual knowledge. We conclude that universities, particularly college counseling services, may benefit from mhealth interventions, not only to address college students' mental health but to decrease some of its difficulties related to lack of human resources. Specifically in covid-19 pandemic context, these interventions may contribute significantly by promoting and delivering psychological interventions at a safe distance.

Indexed as

cognitive-behavioral therapycollege studentscounseling servicesmental healthmHealth

Identifiers

PMID34045994
PMCPMC8144454
OpenAlexW3161857385

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.