ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
Mobile Applications in Mood Disorders and Mental Health: Systematic Search in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and Review of the Literature.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Initial Requirements for the Prototyping of an App for a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Project: An Integrative Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Digital mental health apps for young people in Europe: A systematic cross-country analysis.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of the SAGIP mental health mobile application for the academic community: a longitudinal study.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Mobile Apps for Oncology Health Care Professionals: Mapping and Assessment Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Article
- Stakeholder perspectives on depression management: A design thinking exploration for person-centered digital health.PloS one · 2026Article
- ROOM to Grow, a Mobile Well-Being Intervention for University Students: Overview of the Design Process and Outcomes.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Validation and selection of criteria for evaluating apps for managing depression: a Delphi study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Is It Time to Rethink Psychiatry Residency Training? Meeting the Needs of a Multicultural Population.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2024Article
- Peer-led intervention for individuals with major depression: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (SUPEERMood).BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Challenges and Alternatives to Evaluation Methods and Regulation Approaches for Medical Apps as Mobile Medical Devices: International and Multidisciplinary Focus Group Discussion.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Effectiveness and uptake of a transdiagnostic emotion regulation mobile intervention among university students: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Internet interventions · 2024Article
- Perception of Apps for Mental Health Assessment With Recommendations for Future Design: United Kingdom Semistructured Interview Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Access to a tailored mobile application enhances medication adherence among young users of antidepressants.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- A digital self-help tool to promote mental well-being for Ukrainians affected by war - Assessing predictors of stress.Neuroscience applied · 2024Article
- Mobile applications to prescribe physical exercise in frail older adults: review of the available tools in app stores.Age and ageing · 2023Article
- Efficacy, Safety, and Evaluation Criteria of mHealth Interventions for Depression: Systematic Review.JMIR mental health · 2023Review
- Asynchronous Technologies in Mental Health Care and Education.Current treatment options in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Article
- Did Usage of Mental Health Apps Change during COVID-19? A Comparative Study Based on an Objective Recording of Usage Data and Demographics.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe main objective of this work was to explore and characterize the current landscape of mobile applications available to treat mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia.
methodsWe developed a tool that makes both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store searchable using keywords and that facilitates the extraction of basic app information of the search results. All app results were filtered using various inclusion and exclusion criteria. We characterized all resultant applications according to their technical details. Furthermore, we searched for scientific publications on each app's website and PubMed, to understand whether any of the apps were supported by any type of scientific evidence on their acceptability, validation, use, effectiveness, etc. Results: Thirty apps were identified that fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The literature search yielded 27 publications related to the apps. However, these did not exclusively concern mood disorders. 6 were randomized studies and the rest included a protocol, pilot-, feasibility, case-, or qualitative studies, among others. The majority of studies were conducted on relatively small scales and 9 of the 27 studies did not explicitly study the effects of mobile application use on mental wellbeing.
conclusionWhile there exists a wealth of mobile applications aimed at the treatment of mental health disorders, including mood disorders, this study showed that only a handful of these are backed by robust scientific evidence. This result uncovers a need for further clinically oriented and systematic validation and testing of such apps.
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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.