Outcomes of Best-Practice Guided Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Emerging Symptoms: Part I. A Systematic Review of Socioemotional Outcomes and Recommendations

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2024 Mar 15. doi: 10.1007/s10567-024-00469-4. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTYouth-specific digital mental health interventions (DMHI) represent an emerging field of study, and aim to increase access, improve socioemotional outcomes, and, where required, support triage to targeted interventions. However, prior reviews have reported inconsistent findings on the clinical effectiveness of such interventions in young adults (12-25 years). Further, shortfalls remain for the impact of guided interventions based on the mode of delivery and the type of human support personnel (e.g., professional or peer) guiding the intervention. In response, this systematic review, co-designed with Australia's leading mental health organization, aims to assess the effectiveness of guided digital programs in improving youth socioemotional outcomes. Included studies involve young people experiencing mental ill-health, receiving brief (i.e., 1-12 sessions), digitally delivered (at least partially) psychological interventions that were guided or partially guided, tested in a type of experimental study, with a socioemotional outcome. Specific socioemotional outcomes examined were depression, anxiety, stress, wellbeing, mindfulness, and quality of life. A systematic search of the contemporary published and grey literature identified 22,482 records with 32 relevant records published between 2018 and 2023. A narrative synthesis guided integration of findings. Results demonstrated ...
Source: Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Source Type: research