Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40257208›Full record

ArticleBJPsych open2025

The era of digital mental health interventions: we know they can be effective but are they also safe?

Urska Arnautovska, Alyssa Milton

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BJPsych open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
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

2 authors.

Urska ArnautovskaHealth, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7780-8441
Alyssa MiltonFaculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4326-0123

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Over the past two decades, digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have seen a surge in studies with people experiencing mental ill-health, whether this be via web-based platforms, smartphone applications, text messages or other digital devices. Although DMHIs already demonstrate evidence of their acceptability and some of their effectiveness among different populations, the information about their safety is less clear. This Editorial reflects on a Delphi study by Taher and colleagues that explored the regulation of DMHIs and generated ten safety recommendations. We discuss these recommendations in the context of existing relevant literature and provide suggestions for further steps to advance research and policy on DMHIs in the UK and globally. Further dialog is needed, including the views and experiences of all key stakeholders, and particularly of people with lived experience, to ensure DMHIs are not only an acceptable and potentially effective treatment approach, but also safe for those that use them.

Indexed as

Adverse eventsdigital interventionsDMHI developmentmental health servicessafety

Identifiers

PMID40257208
PMCPMC12052579

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.