ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2024
Individuals' attitudes toward digital mental health apps and implications for adoption in Portugal: web-based survey.
Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- P5 Mental Health Platform: A Digital Solution to Monitor Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in the General Portuguese Population.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Thematic landscapes and temporal trends of disability technology adoption: insights from Structural Topic Modelling.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- How mental health status and attitudes toward mental health shape AI Acceptance in psychosocial care: a cross-sectional analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Influencing public acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare delivery.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe literature is consensual regarding the academic community exhibiting higher levels of mental disorder prevalence than the general population. The potential of digital mental health apps for improving access to resources to cope with these issues is ample. However, studies have yet to be performed in Portugal on individuals' attitudes and perceptions toward digital mental health applications or their preferences and decision drivers on obtaining mental health care, self-assessment, or treatment.
objectiveThis study aims to understand the determinants of digital mental health applications use in the Portuguese academic community of Porto, along with potential adoption barriers and enablers.
methodsA cross-sectional, web-based survey was delivered via dynamic email to the University of Porto's academic community. Data collection occurred between September 20 and October 20, 2022. We used structural equation modeling to build three models, replicating a peer-reviewed and published study and producing a newly full mediation model shaped by the collected data. We tested the relationships between use of digital mental health apps and perceived stress, perceived need to seek help for mental health, perceived stigma, past use of mental health services, privacy concerns, and social influence.
resultsOf the 539 participants, 169 (31.4%) reported having used digital mental health apps. Perceived stress and a latent variable, comprising perceptions of mental health problems and coping strategies, were positively associated with mental health app use, while privacy concerns regarding one's information being accessible to others were negatively associated. Perceived stigma, need to seek help, and close relationships did not have a statistically significant direct effect.
conclusionsThese findings can inform product and policy development of new, better-targeted digital mental health app interventions, with implications for researchers and academia, industry, and policymakers. Our study concludes that, to maximize adherence to these apps, they should have low to no financial charges, demonstrate evidence of their helpfulness and focus on the timely delivery of care. We also conclude that to foster digital mental health app use, there is a need to improve mental health literacy, namely regarding self-awareness of one's conditions, acceptable stress levels, and overall behavior towards mental health.
trial registrationRR2-10.2196/41040.
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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.