SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2022
Determination of Markers of Successful Implementation of Mental Health Apps for Young People: Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05912439 (Smartphone Based Health Behaviour Intervention for Adolescents; Usage and Daily Attrition Rates.), which is not on this map. Cited by 32 papers, 5 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.
Smartphone Based Health Behaviour Intervention for Adolescents; Usage and Daily Attrition Rates.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Barriers to and Facilitators of Implementation of Internet-Delivered Therapist-Guided Therapy in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Systematic Review and Bayesian Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Updates on digital mental health interventions for children and young people: systematic overview of reviews.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled 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
- The Acceptability, Engagement, and Feasibility of Mental Health Apps for Marginalized and Underserved Young People: Systematic Review and Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Dissemination Strategies for mHealth Apps: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Usage and Daily Attrition of a Smartphone-Based Health Behavior Intervention: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- Coproduction Without Youth? Closing the Participation Gap in Digital Mental Health Research.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of digital health interventions for supporting mental health of children and young people: a rapid review and narrative synthesis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Review
- Clinicians' provision of a self-guided digital mental health intervention to adolescents with depressive symptoms at preventive health visits in California.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- What should be included in a digital mental health intervention, based on solution-focused therapy, for young people who self-harm? A qualitative exploration of young people and clinicians' views.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Navigating the Digital Landscape for Potential Use of Mental Health Apps in Clinical Practice: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Adolescent readiness for mobile mental health support in Soweto: A mixed-methods study.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Development and pilot-testing of an app to complement trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescents.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Shaping the Future of DHT Assessment: Insights on Industry Challenges, Developer Needs, and a Harmonized, European HTA Framework.Journal of market access & health policy · 2025Article
- Human-Centered Design and Digital Transformation of Mental Health Services.JMIR human factors · 2025Review
- mHealth Applications for Childhood Anxiety Disorders: Current Landscape, Challenges, and Future Directions.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Digital interventions in mental health: An overview and future perspectives.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- The evolving field of digital mental health: current evidence and implementation issues for smartphone apps, generative artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025Article
- Incentivising participation in mental health app research: lessons learned from a mixed methods randomised controlled trial.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Digital Mental Health Interventions for Young People Aged 16-25 Years: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmartphone apps have the potential to address some of the current issues facing service provision for young people's mental health by improving the scalability of evidence-based mental health interventions. However, very few apps have been successfully implemented, and consensus on implementation measurement is lacking.
objectiveThis review aims to determine the proportion of evidence-based mental health and well-being apps that have been successfully adopted and sustained in real-world settings. A secondary aim is to establish if key implementation determinants such as coproduction, acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, and engagement contribute toward successful implementation and longevity.
methodsFollowing the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, an electronic search of 5 databases in 2021 yielded 18,660 results. After full-text screening, 34 articles met the full eligibility criteria, providing data on 29 smartphone apps studied with individuals aged 15 to 25 years.
resultsOf 34 studies, only 10 (29%) studies were identified that were evaluating the effectiveness of 8 existing, commercially available mental health apps, and the remaining 24 (71%) studies reported the development and evaluation of 21 newly developed apps, of which 43% (9/21) were available, commercially or otherwise (eg, in mental health services), at the time of enquiry. Most studies addressed some implementation components including adoption, acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, and engagement. Factors including high cost, funding constraints, and lengthy research processes impeded implementation.
conclusionsWithout addressing common implementation drivers, there is considerable redundancy in the translation of mobile mental health research findings into practice. Studies should embed implementation strategies from the outset of the planned research, build collaborations with partners already working in the field (academic and commercial) to capitalize on existing interventions and platforms, and modify and evaluate them for local contexts or target problems and populations.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42021224365; https://tinyurl.com/4umpn85f.
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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.