The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
State of the Field of Mental Health Apps
Open accessAbstract
Mental health apps offer unique opportunities for self-management of mental health and well-being in mobile, cost-effective ways. There is an abundance of apps available to consumers, but selecting a useful one presents a challenge. Most available apps are not supported by empirical evidence and thus consumers have access to a range of unreviewed apps, the benefits of which are not known or supported. While user ratings exist, and are likely to be considered by consumers when selecting an app, they do not actually yield information on app suitability. A possible alternative way for consumers to choose an app would be to use an app review platform. A number of attempts have been made to construct such a platform, and this paper introduces PsyberGuide, which offers a step towards providing objective and actionable information for publicly available mental health apps.
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“The time and resources required for planning and undertaking an RCT are not always appropriate for the assessment of dMH tools due to their rapid development and the accelerating time to the obsolescence of technological innovations [9,22,23].”
From Feasibility and Acceptability of the Aboriginal and Islander Mental Health Initiative for Youth App: Nonrandomized Pilot With First Nations Young People (2023) · cites this paper as [9]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“There is currently somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 mental health apps [23,24], but it is estimated that only about 3% to 4% are actually evidence based.”
From Mobile Apps for Mental Health Issues: Meta-Review of Meta-Analyses (2020) · cites this paper as [24]
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“There is currently somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 mental health apps [23,24], but it is estimated that only about 3% to 4% are actually evidence based.”
From Mobile Apps for Mental Health Issues: Meta-Review of Meta-Analyses (2020) · cites this paper as [24]
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Mobile app rating scale: a new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps
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- Ben-Zeev, D., Brian, R. M., Jonathan, G., Razzano, L., Pashka, N., Carpenter-Song, E. A., Drake, R. E., & Schrer, E. A. (in press). Randomized controlled trial of mHealth vs. clinic-based interventions for serious mental illness: Patient engagement, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. Schizophrenia Bulletin.
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“In addition to social media, the use of mental health, substance use, and wellness phone-based assistance has grown exponentially over the last 10 years (Neary & Schueller, 2018).”
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“…funding source, conflict of interest, or hidden costs; (2) risk, privacy, and data security; (3) clinical efficacy and evidence; (4) ease of use and customization; and (5) data integration and sharing (Neary & Schueller, 2018; Torous et al., 2018; American Psychiatric Association, 2022).”
BackgroundMiller, E., & Thabrew, H. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4763523
Online Consumer Tools and Support
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Six, S., Schlesener, E. A., Hill, V., Babu, S. V., & Byrne, K. A. (2024) · doi:10.2196/preprints.67330
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“Several resources are now available to locate, assess, and regulate the quality of mental health apps, such as app rating guidelines and platforms [37,54,55].”
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Karlsen, I., Svendsen, P. A., & Abildgaard, J. S. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.20472403
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“Therefore, we examined studies focusing on the adoption of mental mHealth apps and found that issues such as credibility, privacy, and monetization play a significant role in user decision-making (Biviji et al., 2020; Keen & Roberts, 2017; Neary & Schueller, 2018).”
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“However, it should also be noted that relatively few digital mental health apps have received formal approval (Rejoyn, 2024) and many have limited scientific validation, regulatory oversight, or robust evidence supporting their effectiveness (Anthes, 2016, Neary & Schueller, 2018).”
Attoe, C., Szekely, R., Vega, M. O., Browne, E., Thomas, R., Kwan, C. W. T., Altchouler, P., De, A., Hariharan, N., Clay, G., et al. (2026) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076261428307
“17,18 For instance, a meta-review of studies on mental health smartphone apps 19 found that the few that evaluated effectiveness and ef fi cacy had small sample sizes.”
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Yu, R., & Haddock, A. D. (2026) · Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s41347-026-00610-w
Hampole, S. R., McCaslin, S. E., Carr, V. A., Schuster, D. M., Reyes, S. I., Steinmetz, S. E., Ramsey, K. M., Owen, J. E., Skidmore, W. C., Street, A. E., et al. (2026) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/85098
“Fortunately, widely accessible technology-based solutions, such as mental health apps, have the potential to expand access to psychoeducation, coping tools, and resources for self-management purposes [20].”
Bettencourt, C. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/4c3f585ezadf5z4d15zaff3z38e3e9392607
The Regulations and Future Directions Related to Mental Health Apps
Shamim, T. (2026) · Current Medical Issues · doi:10.4103/cmi.cmi_6_26
Rand, K., Menichetti, J., Wisløff, T. F., & Brorson, H. H. (2026) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/84096
Bunyi, J., Wu, S., Hwang, A. H., & Oh, H. Y. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-9285173/v1
“Smartphone applications, or “apps” are a relatively mature platform for connecting users to support (19) and for delivering mental health interventions (20, 21), such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and psychoeducation (20, 21).”
Babbitt, K., Funnell, E. L., Martin-Key, N. A., Barker, E., & Bahn, S. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.99682
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“However, many of these applications have limited to no scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness in improving users’ mental health [14, 15], and many do not incorporate the patient’s own life narrative in their design.”
Kuberka, P., Chilton, M., Pike, K. C., Shafran, R., & Yardley, L. (2026) · JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting · doi:10.2196/84384
“While many digital mental health interventions are publicly accessible, a substantial number have not undergone empirical evaluation [45,74,75], raising concerns about their effectiveness and safety.”
Digital mental health apps for young people in Europe: A systematic cross-country analysis
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“Substantial empirical evidence supports the efficacy of Headspace in promoting psychological wellbeing [23,30–33], which may partly account for its strong market presence and visibility.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Neary, M., & Schueller, S. M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Schueller, Stephen M.
- Venue
- Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 531-537
- ISSN
- 1077-7229 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7584258
- OpenAlex
- W2789479890
- Cited by
- 247
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 7
- FWCI
- 26.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cognitive and Behavioral Practice (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K08MH102336)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Health, Technology, Consumer Behavior
- Keywords
- mental health apps, app selection, user ratings, mobile mental health
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