ReviewJournal of personalized medicine2022
Potential and Pitfalls of Mobile Mental Health Apps in Traditional Treatment: An Umbrella Review.
Review in Journal of personalized medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 3 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
77 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mood Monitoring, Mood Tracking, and Ambulatory Assessment Interventions in Depression and Bipolar Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Umbrella review of meta-analyses on the risk factors, protective factors, consequences and interventions of cyberbullying victimization.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- User engagement in clinical trials of digital mental health interventions: a systematic review.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Mobile Intervention for Improving Perinatal Mental Health and Reducing Depression During Pregnancy: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Effects of a Smartphone-Based Positive Reflection Diary on Work Engagement Among Japanese Workers: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Enhancing social functioning using multi-user, immersive virtual reality.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Acceptability, use and safety of the BlueIce self-harm prevention app: qualitative findings from the Beating Adolescent Self-Harm (BASH) randomised controlled trial.BMJ mental health · 2024Trial
- Barriers and facilitators of mental health app use among young women - a multimethod study.BMC women's health · 2026Article
- Impact of mobile health interventions for mental health literacy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Digital mental health apps for young people in Europe: A systematic cross-country analysis.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Young adults' perceptions and experiences in using mobile apps and wearables for health: a qualitative study with public involvement.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Building a Science-Driven Business: How National Institutes of Health Funding Enabled an Evidence-Based Approach to Maternal Mental Health Innovation.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- "An App That Truly Works for Us": Co-Designing a Mobile Health Intervention to Support the Transition to Adulthood for the Latino Autism Community.Journal of technology in behavioral science · 2026Article
- Systematic review and meta analysis of chatbots in the management of depressive and anxiety symptoms.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Navigating the complexity of AI adoption in psychotherapy by identifying key facilitators and barriers.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Co-Designed Mental Health Screening App (Here for You) for University Students: Pilot Feasibility Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Leveraging mHealth interventions to reduce sex- and drug-related risk behaviors among chemsex-involved men who have sex with men: evidence from a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Gender and common mental disorders: A perspective from India.World journal of psychiatry · 2026Review
- Prevalence, Digital Tools, and Management Strategies for Depression in Medical Students: A Narrative Review.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Review
- Engaging veterans in the development of mobile health interventions to support medication treatment for opioid use disorder.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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.
Funding
Abstract
While the rapid growth of mobile mental health applications has offered an avenue of support unbridled by physical distance, time, and cost, the digitalization of traditional interventions has also triggered doubts surrounding their effectiveness and safety. Given the need for a more comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of mobile mental health apps in traditional treatment, this umbrella review provides a holistic summary of their key potential and pitfalls. A total of 36 reviews published between 2014 and 2022-including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and literature reviews-were identified from the Cochrane library, Medline (via PubMed Central), and Scopus databases. The majority of results supported the key potential of apps in helping to (1) provide timely support, (2) ease the costs of mental healthcare, (3) combat stigma in help-seeking, and (4) enhance therapeutic outcomes. Our results also identified common themes of apps' pitfalls (i.e., challenges faced by app users), including (1) user engagement issues, (2) safety issues in emergencies, (3) privacy and confidentiality breaches, and (4) the utilization of non-evidence-based approaches. We synthesize the potential and pitfalls of mental health apps provided by the reviews and outline critical avenues for future research.
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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.