JMIR Mental Health

Therapist guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (guided ICBT) appears to be efficacious for depression, panic disorder (PD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) in routine care clinical settings. However, implementation of guided ICBT in specialist mental health services is limited partly due to low referral rates from general practitioners (GP), which may stem from lack of awareness, limited knowledge of its effectiveness, or negative attitudes toward the treatment format. In response, self-referral systems were introduced in mental health care about a decade ago to improve access to care. Yet, little is known about how referral pathways may affect treatment outcomes in guided ICBT.

This scoping review examines the effects of various sound interventions, including music, natural sounds, and speech, on the stress response in adults.

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in the mental health field, with promising results in assessing mental disorders. However, correctness, dependability, and equity of LLM-generated information have been questioned. Amongst other, societal biases and research underrepresentation of certain population strata may affect LLMs. Because LLMs are already used for clinical practice, including decision support, it is important to investigate potential biases to ensure a responsible use of LLMs. Anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) show a lifetime prevalence of 1–2%, affecting more women than men. For men, sexual orientation was identified as a risk factor, with homosexual men having a higher risk of developing an eating disorder (ED) than heterosexual men. However, men are underrepresented in ED research and research on the association between gender and sexual orientation with prevalence, symptoms, and treatment outcomes of AN and BN is scarce.

In the interest of accurately assessing the effects of digital technology use in early childhood, researchers and experts have emphasized the need to conceptualize and measure children’s digital technology use beyond screen time. Researchers have argued that many patterns of early digital technology use could be problematic, resulting in the emerging need to list and examine their measures.

Secondary use of routinely collected health care data has great potential benefits in epidemiological studies primarily due to the large scale of preexisting data.

Longitudinal investigation of the association between mobile health (mHealth) app use and attitudes toward one’s body during adolescence is scarce. mHealth apps might shape adolescents’ body image perceptions by influencing their attitudes toward their bodies. Adolescents might also use mHealth apps based on how they feel and think about their bodies.

The EVADD study (EVAluation of Digital aDdiction) investigates problematic smartphone use in the digital age, as global smartphone users reached 55.88 million in France in 2023. With increased screen time from digital devices, especially smartphones, the study highlights adult usage issues and associated risks.

Web-based cognitive behavioral therapy (wb-CBT) is a scalable way to reach distressed university students. Guided wb-CBT is typically superior to self-guided wb-CBT over short follow-up periods, but evidence is less clear over longer periods.

Emotion regulation difficulties affect many adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and previous research has highlighted a need for accessible interventions to support them in this domain, especially in real-life contexts. Digital health interventions (DHIs) can be embedded in adolescents’ daily lives and thus offer considerable promise for meeting this need. However, there is a lack of information to guide the development of suitable emotion regulation DHIs for this population. The goal of this study is, therefore, to identify recommendations to guide the development of emotion regulation DHIs for adolescents with ADHD. This narrative review synthesizes diverse relevant evidence to inform their development, including promising therapeutic approaches and components and relevant design and development considerations. We find that there is very little direct evidence of “what works” for emotion regulation DHIs and emotion regulation interventions more generally for adolescents with ADHD; however, we identify promising therapeutic approaches for new DHIs. We also recommend following a co-design or coproduction approach with adolescents with ADHD, including exploring elements designed to motivate and engage young people to support sustained adherence. We conclude that DHIs are a promising approach for emotion regulation interventions for adolescents with ADHD, could draw on a range of existing therapeutic approaches, and should be co-designed with users themselves.

Smartphones could enhance access to effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Users may frequently and flexibly access bite-size CBT content on personal devices, review and practice skills, and thereby achieve better outcomes.

Mood disorders are among the most common mental health conditions worldwide. Wearables and consumer-grade personal digital devices create digital traces that can be collected, processed, and analyzed, offering a unique opportunity to quantify and monitor individuals with mental disorders in their natural living environments.

Conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) is emerging as a promising digital technology for mental health care. CAI apps, such as psychotherapeutic chatbots, are available in app stores, but their use raises ethical concerns.