Digital technology for treating and preventing mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries: A narrative review of the literature
Open accessAbstract
Few individuals living with mental disorders around the globe have access to mental health care, yet most have access to a mobile phone. Digital technology holds promise for improving access to, and quality of, mental health care. We reviewed evidence on the use of mobile, online, and other remote technologies for treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. Of the 49 studies identified, most were preliminary evaluations of feasibility and acceptability. The findings were promising, showing the potential effectiveness of online, text-messaging, and telephone support interventions. We summarised the evaluations as: technology for supporting clinical care and educating health workers, mobile tools for facilitating diagnosis and detection of mental disorders, technologies for promoting treatment adherence and supporting recovery, online self-help programmes for individuals with mental disorders, and programmes for substance misuse prevention and treatment. Continued research is needed to rigorously evaluate effectiveness, assess costs, and carefully consider potential risks of digital technology interventions for mental disorders, while determining how emerging technologies might support the scale-up of mental health treatment and prevention efforts across low-resource settings.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Technology is increasingly providing new possibilities for delivering a range of interventions in LMICs.
“technology is increasingly providing new possibilities for delivering a range of interventions [83]”
From Brief interventions for alcohol use disorders in low- and middle-income countries: barriers and potential solutions (2022) · cites this paper as [83]
The majority of research on mobile health technology has focused on client-facing rather than provider-facing applications.
“The majority of research on mobile health technology has focused on client-facing rather than provider-facing applications (Naslund et al., 2017).”
From Mobile technology and task shifting to improve access to alcohol treatment services in Mozambique (2022) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017
Use of digital technologies for mental health is not as common in most lower income countries, though interest and growth have increased in recent years.
“Use of digital technologies for mental health is not as common in most lower income countries18, though this has been an important area of increasing interest and growth in recent years.19,20”
From Digital Technology for Building Capacity of Nonspecialist Health Workers for Task Sharing and Scaling Up Mental Health Care Globally (2019) · cites this paper as [19]
Increasing use of the internet and digital platforms provides significant opportunities to address unmet mental health needs.
“Increasing use of the internet and digital platforms in this decade provide significant opportunities to address a population’s unmet mental health needs. 12”
From Technology-Based Interventions to Improve Help-Seeking for Mental Health Concerns: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [12]
Ecological momentary assessment can enable the collection and integration of multimodal data passively, continuously, and objectively and may be useful in assessing how depressive symptoms, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors, unfold in real-world contexts.
“Ecological momentary assessment can enable the collection and integration of multimodal data passively, continuously, and objectively and may be useful in assessing how depressive symptoms, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors, unfold in real-world contexts.”
From Digital health technologies and major depressive disorder (2023) · cites this paper as [136]
Previous reviews have found virtually no studies on Internet-based solutions in Latin America that can be scaled up in real health-care contexts.
“Previous reviews have found virtually no studies on Internet-based solutions in Latin America that can be scaled up in real health-care contexts (15–17).”
From Internet-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorders in Latin America: A Scoping Review (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
The accumulating evidence shows promising results but with important challenges that are not different to those found elsewhere in the world.
“The accumulating evidence shows promising results but with important challenges that are not different to those found elsewhere in the world (11–16).”
From Internet-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorders in Latin America: A Scoping Review (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Among the issues that remain to be resolved for scaling up these technologies is the relative lack of studies showing effectiveness of Internet-based interventions for mental disorders in LMICs.
“Among these, the relative lack of studies showing effectiveness of Internet-based interventions for mental disorders in LMICs (15, 16).”
From Internet-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorders in Latin America: A Scoping Review (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
High attrition in Internet-based interventions where there is none or low-intensity coach/therapist support is a problem in Latin America as well as in developed countries.
“High attrition in Internet-based interventions where there is none or low-intensity coach/therapist support is a problem in Latin America as well as in developed countries (11, 15).”
From Internet-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorders in Latin America: A Scoping Review (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Mental health of young people: A global public-health challenge
Patel, V., Flisher, A. J., Hetrick, S., & McGorry, P. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)60368-7 · Cited by 3,126 · see citing works
Self-citationWalker, E. R., McGee, R. E., & Druss, B. G. (2015) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2502 · Cited by 2,976 · see citing works
Estimating the true global burden of mental illness
Vigo, D., Thornicroft, G., & Atun, R. (2016) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00505-2 · Cited by 2,494 · see citing works
Resources for mental health: scarcity, inequity, and inefficiency
Saxena, S., Thornicroft, G., Knapp, M., & Whiteford, H. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61239-2 · Cited by 1,789 · see citing works
The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social media
Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J. (2016) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796015001067 · Cited by 1,180 · see citing works
Self-citationBarriers to improvement of mental health services in low-income and middle-income countries
Saraceno, B., van Ommeren, M., Batniji, R., Cohen, A., Gureje, O., Mahoney, J., Sridhar, D., & Underhill, C. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61263-x · Cited by 1,088 · see citing works
Human resources for mental health care: current situation and strategies for action
Kakuma, R., Minas, H., van Ginneken, N., Dal Poz, M. R., Desiraju, K., Morris, J. E., Saxena, S., & Scheffler, R. M. (2011) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61093-3 · Cited by 979 · see citing works
Treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries
Patel, V., Araya, R., Chatterjee, S., Chisholm, D., Cohen, A., De Silva, M., Hosman, C., McGuire, H., Rojas, G., & van Ommeren, M. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61240-9 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
Self-citationErskine, H. E., Moffitt, T. E., Copeland, W. E., Costello, E. J., Ferrari, A. J., Patton, G., Degenhardt, L., Vos, T., Whiteford, H. A., & Scott, J. G. (2015) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291714002888 · Cited by 688 · see citing works
E-learning in medical education in resource constrained low- and middle-income countries
Frehywot, S., Vovides, Y., Talib, Z., Mikhail, N., Ross, H., Wohltjen, H., Bedada, S., Korhumel, K., Koumare, A. K., & Scott, J. (2013) · Human Resources for Health · doi:10.1186/1478-4491-11-4 · Cited by 559 · see citing works
Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of Syrians affected by armed conflict
Hassan, G., Ventevogel, P., Jefee-Bahloul, H., Barkil-Oteo, A., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2016) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796016000044 · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Reducing the treatment gap for mental disorders: a WPA survey
PATEL, V., MAJ, M., FLISHER, A. J., DE SILVA, M. J., KOSCHORKE, M., PRINCE, M., WPA Zonal and Member Society Representatives, Tempier, R., Riba, M., Sanchez, M., et al. (2010) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/j.2051-5545.2010.tb00305.x · Cited by 420 · see citing works
Self-citationMental Health and the Global Agenda
Becker, A. E., & Kleinman, A. (2013) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra1110827 · Cited by 348 · see citing works
Knaevelsrud, C., Brand, J., Lange, A., Ruwaard, J., & Wagner, B. (2015) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.3582 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Hampshire, K., Porter, G., Owusu, S. A., Mariwah, S., Abane, A., Robson, E., Munthali, A., Lannoy, A. D., Bango, A., Gunguluza, N., et al. (2015) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.033 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Barrera, A. Z., Wickham, R. E., & Muñoz, R. F. (2015) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2015.06.002 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Marasinghe, R. B., Edirippulige, S., Kavanagh, D. J., Smith, A. C., & Jiffry, M. T. M. (2012) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1258/jtt.2012.sft107 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Burton, C., Szentagotai Tatar, A., McKinstry, B., Matheson, C., Matu, S., Moldovan, R., Macnab, M., Farrow, E., David, D., Pagliari, C., et al. (2016) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x15609793 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Telecommunications Reform, Internet Use and Mobile Phone Adoption in the Developing World
Howard, P. N., & Mazaheri, N. (2009) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2008.12.005 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Efficacy of an internet-based intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder in Iraq: a pilot study
Wagner, B., Schulz, W., & Knaevelsrud, C. (2012) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2011.07.026 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Christoff, A. D. O., & Boerngen-Lacerda, R. (2015) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.01.019 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Wang, Z., Wang, J., & Maercker, A. (2013) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.2690 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Tulbure, B. T., Szentagotai, A., David, O., Ștefan, S., Månsson, K. N. T., David, D., & Andersson, G. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123997 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Jefee-Bahloul, H., Moustafa, M. K., Shebl, F. M., & Barkil-Oteo, A. (2014) · Telemedicine Journal and e-Health · doi:10.1089/tmj.2013.0373 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Chandra, P. S., Sowmya, H. R., Mehrotra, S., & Duggal, M. (2014) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2014.06.008 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
How Google’s ‘ten things we know to be true’could guide the development of mental health mobile apps
Jones, S. P., Patel, V., Saxena, S., Radcliffe, N., Ali Al-Marri, S., & Darzi, A. (2014) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0380 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationÖzkan, B., Erdem, E., Özsoy, S., & Zararsız, G. (2013) · Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences · doi:10.12669/pjms.295.2613 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Hungerbuehler, I., Valiengo, L., Loch, A. A., Rössler, W., & Gattaz, W. F. (2016) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.5675 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Pereira, C. A., Wen, C. L., Miguel, E. C., & Polanczyk, G. V. (2015) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-014-0642-8 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Tomita, A. M., Kandolo, K. M., Susser, E., & Burns, J. K. (2015) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x15605406 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Efficacy of the telephone-based brief motivational intervention for alcohol problems in Brazil
Signor, L., Pierozan, P. S., Ferigolo, M., Fernandes, S., Campos Moreira de, T., Mazoni, C. G., & Barros, H. M. T. (2013) · Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria · doi:10.1590/1516-4446-2011-0724 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Development of a novel diagnostic system for a telepsychiatric application: a pilot validation study
Malhotra, S., Chakrabarti, S., Shah, R., Gupta, A., Mehta, A., Nithya, B., Kumar, V., & Sharma, M. (2014) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-508 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Asynchronous Telepsychiatry in Maharashtra, India: Study of Feasibility and Referral Pattern
Balasinorwala, V. P., Shah, N. B., Chatterjee, S. D., Kale, V., & Matcheswalla, Y. (2014) · Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine · doi:10.4103/0253-7176.135384 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Andrade, A. L. M., de Lacerda, R. B., Gomide, H. P., Ronzani, T. M., Sartes, L. M. A., Martins, L. F., Bedendo, A., Souza-Formigoni, M. L. O., Vromans, I. S. Y., Poznyak, V., et al. (2016) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.06.027 · Cited by 40 · cited 1× · see citing works
“61 In another study from Brazil, 62 an online motivational intervention for preventing general substance misuse was as effective at reducing use of alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs as a face-to-face version of the same intervention.”
Brief Motivational Intervention and telemedicine: A new perspective of treatment to marijuana users
Fernandes, S., Ferigolo, M., Benchaya, M. C., Moreira, T. D. C., Pierozan, P. S., Mazoni, C. G., & Barros, H. M. T. (2010) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.03.001 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
A four-year experience with a Web-based self-help intervention for depressive symptoms in Mexico.
Lara, M. A., Tiburcio, M., Abrego, A. A., & Sánchez, A. (2014) · PubMed · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Thomas, I. F., Lawani, A. O., & James, B. O. (2016) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201500514 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Carrasco, A. E. (2016) · Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome · doi:10.4081/ripppo.2016.182 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Improved Attitudes to Psychiatry: A Global Mental Health Peer-to-Peer E-Learning Partnership
Keynejad, R. C., Garratt, E. A., Adem, G., Finlayson, A. E. T., Whitwell, S., & Sheriff, R. S. (2014) · Academic Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s40596-014-0206-8 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Moritz, S., & Russu, R. (2012) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2012.12.002 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Use of telepsychiatry in areas of conflict: the Syrian refugee crisis as an example
Jefee-Bahloul, H. (2014) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x14527709 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Mogoașe, C., Brailean, A., & David, D. (2013) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9514-z · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Temmingh, H., Claassen, A., van Zyl, S., Carrara, H., Dayakalashe, N. M., Myer, L., & Stein, D. J. (2013) · Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0000000000000036 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Rahman, A., Nizami, A. T., Minhas, A., Niazi, R., Slatch, M. A., & Minhas, F. (2006) · Psychiatric Bulletin · doi:10.1192/pb.30.4.149 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Kishimoto, T., Krieger, T., Berger, T., Qian, M., Chen, H., & Yang, Y. (2016) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000446584 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Rosemarie Fritsch, M., Araya, R., Solís, J., Montt, E., Pilowsky, D. J., & Rojas, G. (2007) · Revista médica de Chile · doi:10.4067/s0034-98872007000500006 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Self-citationEspinosa, H. D., Carrasco, Á., Moessner, M., Cáceres, C., Gloger, S., Rojas, G., Perez, J. C., Vanegas, J., Bauer, S., & Krause, M. (2016) · Telemedicine and e-Health · doi:10.1089/tmj.2015.0124 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Valencia, C. B., Benito-Devia, A. V., Álvarez, C. V., Figueroa-Barrera, M., & Franco-Idárraga, S. M. (2016) · Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría · doi:10.1016/j.rcp.2016.04.008 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Alcohol abuse management in primary care: an e-learning course
Pereira, C. A., Wen, C. L., & Tavares, H. (2015) · Telemedicine and e-Health · doi:10.1089/tmj.2014.0042 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Xu, W., Wang, J., Wang, Z., Li, Y., Yu, W., Xie, Q., He, L., & Maercker, A. R. A. (2015) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105315583371 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Developing telepsychiatry services in KwaZulu-Natal – an action research study
Chipps, J. A., Ramlall, S., Madigoe, T., King, H., & Mars, M. (2012) · African Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.4314/ajpsy.v15i4.33 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Assessing Suicide Attempts and Depression Among Chinese Speakers Over the Internet
Liu, N. H., Contreras, O., Muñoz, R. F., & Leykin, Y. (2014) · Crisis · doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000261 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Novaes, M. D. A., Machiavelli, J. L., Verde, F. C. V., Campos Filho, A. S. D., & Rodrigues, T. R. C. (2012) · Interface - Comunicação, Saúde, Educação · doi:10.1590/s1414-32832012005000043 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Programa de telepsicología para el tratamiento de la fobia a hablar en público en población mexicana
Cárdenas López, G., Botella Arbona, C., Quero Castellano, S., De la Rosa Gómez, A., & Baños Rivera, R. M. (2014) · Psicología Iberoamericana · doi:10.48102/pi.v22i1.145 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Internet based telepsychiatry: a pilot case in Somaliland
Abdi, Y. A., & Elmi, J. Y. (2011) · Medicine Conflict & Survival · doi:10.1080/13623699.2011.631753 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Taleban, R., Zamani, A., Moafi, M., Jiryaee, N., & Khadivi, R. (2016) · International Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.4103/2008-7802.177889 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Flores Plata, L. A., Cárdenas López, G., Durán Baca, X., & De la Rosa Gómez, A. (2014) · Psicología Iberoamericana · doi:10.48102/pi.v22i1.139 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
The effect of telephone-based intervention (TBI) in alcohol abusers: a pilot study.
Wongpakaran, T., Petcharaj, K., Wongpakaran, N., Sombatmai, S., Boripuntakul, T., Intarakamhaeng, D., & Wannarit, K. (2011) · PubMed · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Lessons from participation in a web-based substance use preventive program in Uruguay
Balsa, A. I., Gandelman, N., & Lamé, D. (2014) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse · doi:10.1080/1067828x.2012.748600 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Cost-effectiveness of synchronous vs. asynchronous telepsychiatry in prison inmates with depression
Valencia, C. B., Benito-Devia, A. V., Álvarez, C. V., Figueroa-Barrera, M., & Franco-Idárraga, S. M. (2017) · Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría (English ed ) · doi:10.1016/j.rcpeng.2017.05.005 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
A Prototype Depression Screening Tool for Rural Healthcare: A Step Towards e-Health Informatics
Chattopadhyay, S. (2012) · Journal of Medical Imaging and Health Informatics · doi:10.1166/jmihi.2012.1088 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Malhotra, S., Chakrabarti, S., Shah, R., Sharma, M., Sharma, K., & Singh, H. (2015) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.09.020 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Programa colaborativo a distancia para el tratamiento de la enfermedad depresiva
Rojas, G., Castro, A., Viviana Guajardo, T., Alvarado, R., Isamit, C., & Rosemarie Fritsch, M. (2014) · Revista médica de Chile · doi:10.4067/s0034-98872014000900008 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Maiga, D. D. (2011) · L information psychiatrique · doi:10.1684/ipe.2011.0745 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Kale, N., Jacobs, I., Laux, T. S., Kataria, R., Jain, Y. K., & Gogia, P. (2016) · Annals of Global Health · doi:10.1016/j.aogh.2016.04.592 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Comparative study of relapse prevention in schizophrenia by network
Zai-yi, L. (2007) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · Cited by 6 · see citing works
African youth hungry for connectivity
Kalan, J. E. (2013) · Africa renewal · doi:10.18356/36f18837-en · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Child mental health training for primary care providers in Brazil by telemedicine
Lowenthal, R., Wen, C. L., & Paula, C. S. (2012) · Neuropsychiatrie de l Enfance et de l Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.neurenf.2012.05.095 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Capacitação em saúde mental na infância e adolescência para profissionais da atenção primária
Lowenthal, R. (2012) · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development
Patel, V., Saxena, S., Lund, C., Thornicroft, G., Baingana, F., Bolton, P., Chisholm, D., Collins, P. Y., Cooper, J. L., Eaton, J., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31612-x · Cited by 3,692 · see citing works
Self-citationHow mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic
Moreno, C., Wykes, T., Galderisi, S., Nordentoft, M., Crossley, N., Jones, N., Cannon, M., Correll, C. U., Byrne, L., Carr, S., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30307-2 · Cited by 1,840 · see citing works
Patel, V., Burns, J. K., Dhingra, M., Tarver, L., Kohrt, B. A., & Lund, C. (2018) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20492 · Cited by 582 · see citing works
Self-citationDesigning and scaling up integrated youth mental health care
McGorry, P. D., Mei, C., Chanen, A., Hodges, C., Alvarez‐Jimenez, M., & Killackey, E. (2022) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20938 · Cited by 546 · see citing works
OECD (2021) · OECD Health Policy Studies · doi:10.1787/4ed890f6-en · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Barbui, C., Purgato, M., Abdulmalik, J., Acarturk, C., Eaton, J., Gastaldon, C., Gureje, O., Hanlon, C., Jordans, M., Lund, C., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(19)30511-5 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
Self-citationPractitioner review: Co‐design of digital mental health technologies with children and young people
Bevan Jones, R., Stallard, P., Agha, S. S., Rice, S., Werner‐Seidler, A., Stasiak, K., Kahn, J., Simpson, S. A., Alvarez‐Jimenez, M., Rice, F., et al. (2020) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13258 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
User engagement in mental health apps: A review of measurement, reporting, and validity
Ng, M. M., Firth, J., Minen, M., & Torous, J. (2019) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201800519 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Fu, Z., Burger, H., Arjadi, R., & Bockting, C. L. H. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30256-x · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Raviola, G., Naslund, J. A., Smith, S. L., & Patel, V. (2019) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-019-1028-x · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Self-citationActissist: Proof-of-Concept Trial of a Theory-Driven Digital Intervention for Psychosis
Bucci, S., Barrowclough, C., Ainsworth, J., Machin, M., Morris, R., Berry, K., Emsley, R., Lewis, S., Edge, D., Buchan, I., et al. (2018) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sby032 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Torous, J., Wisniewski, H., Bird, B., Carpenter, E., David, G., Elejalde, E., Fulford, D., Guimond, S., Hays, R., Henson, P., et al. (2019) · Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s41347-019-00095-w · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Self-citationHollis, C., Sampson, S., Simons, L., Davies, E. B., Churchill, R., Betton, V., Butler, D., Chapman, K., Easton, K., Gronlund, T. A., et al. (2018) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30296-7 · Cited by 186 · see citing works
Public mental health: required actions to address implementation failure in the context of COVID-19
Campion, J., Javed, A., Lund, C., Sartorius, N., Saxena, S., Marmot, M., Allan, J., & Udomratn, P. (2022) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00199-1 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Naslund, J. A., Shidhaye, R., & Patel, V. (2019) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/hrp.0000000000000217 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Self-citationGlobal mental health and COVID-19
Kola, L. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30235-2 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Murphy, L., Markey, K., O' Donnell, C., Moloney, M., & Doody, O. (2021) · Archives of Psychiatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2021.05.002 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., McHugo, G. J., Unützer, J., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J. (2019) · Early Intervention in Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/eip.12496 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Self-citationMachine learning and digital biomarkers can detect early stages of neurodegenerative diseases
Chudzik, A., Śledzianowski, A., & Przybyszewski, A. W. (2024) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s24051572 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Muke, S. S., Shrivastava, R. D., Mitchell, L., Khan, A., Murhar, V., Tugnawat, D., Shidhaye, R., Patel, V., & Naslund, J. A. (2019) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2019.09.006 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Self-citationFrom Treatment to Healing:Envisioning a Decolonial Digital Mental Health
Pendse, S. R., Nkemelu, D., Bidwell, N. J., Jadhav, S., Pathare, S., De Choudhury, M., & Kumar, N. (2022) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3491102.3501982 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Rahman, A., Akhtar, P., Hamdani, S. U., Atif, N., Nazir, H., Uddin, I., Nisar, A., Huma, Z., Maselko, J., Sikander, S., et al. (2019) · Global Mental Health · doi:10.1017/gmh.2019.7 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Jiménez-Molina, Á., Franco, P., Martínez, V., Martínez, P., Rojas, G., & Araya, R. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00664 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationMitchell, L. M., Joshi, U., Patel, V., Lu, C., & Naslund, J. A. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.092 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Self-citationGonsalves, P. P., Hodgson, E. S., Kumar, A., Aurora, T., Chandak, Y., Sharma, R., Michelson, D., & Patel, V. (2019) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00238 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“A recent review of digital technology for treating and preventing mental health problems in LMICs identified 49 studies, including only four studies with adolescents or youth (7).”
BackgroundSelf-citationHarper Shehadeh, M. J., Abi Ramia, J., Cuijpers, P., El Chammay, R., Heim, E., Kheir, W., Saeed, K., van Ommeren, M., van’t Hof, E., Watts, S., et al. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00986 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Merchant, R., Torous, J., Rodriguez-Villa, E., & Naslund, J. A. (2020) · Current Opinion in Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/yco.0000000000000626 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
“Gaps in access to and use of digital technologies remain in many settings, especially among women compared to men, and among those who are most impoverished [22].”
BackgroundSelf-citationMenezes, P., Quayle, J., Garcia Claro, H., da Silva, S., Brandt, L. R., Diez-Canseco, F., Miranda, J. J., Price, L. N., Mohr, D. C., & Araya, R. (2019) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/11698 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationEconomic evaluation and costs of telepsychiatry programmes: A systematic review
Naslund, J. A., Mitchell, L. M., Joshi, U., Nagda, D., & Lu, C. (2022) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x20938919 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationGonsalves, P. P., Hodgson, E. S., Bhat, B., Sharma, R., Jambhale, A., Michelson, D., & Patel, V. (2021) · Evidence Based Mental Health · doi:10.1136/ebmental-2020-300194 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationJohnson, J. A., Sanghvi, P., & Mehrotra, S. (2022) · Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1177/02537176211034578 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Heim, E., Ramia, J. A., Hana, R. A., Burchert, S., Carswell, K., Cornelisz, I., Cuijpers, P., El Chammay, R., Noun, P., van Klaveren, C., et al. (2021) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100380 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Pokhrel, P., Karmacharya, R., Taylor Salisbury, T., Carswell, K., Kohrt, B. A., Jordans, M. J. D., Lempp, H., Thornicroft, G., & Luitel, N. P. (2021) · BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making · doi:10.1186/s12911-021-01386-0 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Meyer, N., Kerz, M., Folarin, A., Joyce, D. W., Jackson, R., Karr, C., Dobson, R., & MacCabe, J. (2018) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.8292 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Moulton-Perkins, A., Moulton, D., Cavanagh, K., Jozavi, A., & Strauss, C. (2022) · Journal of Psychotherapy Integration · doi:10.1037/int0000216 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Karyotaki, E., Miguel, C., Panagiotopoulou, O. M., Harrer, M., Seward, N., Sijbrandij, M., Araya, R., Patel, V., & Cuijpers, P. (2023) · Cambridge Prisms Global Mental Health · doi:10.1017/gmh.2023.50 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citationClosing the treatment gap for alcohol use disorders in low- and middle-income countries
Nadkarni, A., Gandhi, Y., Bhatia, U., & Velleman, R. (2023) · Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health · doi:10.1017/gmh.2022.57 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Digital health technologies and major depressive disorder
McIntyre, R. S., Greenleaf, W., Bulaj, G., Taylor, S. T., Mitsi, G., Saliu, D., Czysz, A., Silvesti, G., Garcia, M., & Jain, R. (2023) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852923002225 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Neo, H. S., Tan, J. H., Ang, W. H. D., & Lau, Y. (2022) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110790 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Brandt, L. R., Hidalgo, L., Diez-Canseco, F., Araya, R., Mohr, D. C., Menezes, P. R., & Miranda, J. J. (2019) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/11701 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-citationNadkarni, A., Bhatia, U., Bedendo, A., de Paula, T. C. S., de Andrade Tostes, J. G., Segura-Garcia, L., Tiburcio, M., & Andréasson, S. (2022) · International Journal of Mental Health Systems · doi:10.1186/s13033-022-00548-5 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“This is true for LMICs as well, where technology is increasingly providing new possibilities for delivering a range of interventions [83].”
BackgroundMartínez, V., Espinosa-Duque, D., Jiménez-Molina, Á., Rojas, G., Vöhringer, P. A., Fernández-Arcila, M., Luttges, C., Irarrázaval, M., Bauer, S., & Moessner, M. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18189628 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“The implementation of internetbased prevention and early intervention programs represents a strategic opportunity to reduce gaps in mental healthcare for people in developing countries in a cost-effective way [23,29,30].”
BackgroundMobile technology and task shifting to improve access to alcohol treatment services in Mozambique
O'Grady, M. A., Mootz, J., Suleman, A., Sweetland, A., Teodoro, E., Anube, A., Feliciano, P., Bezuidenhout, C., Dos Santos, P. F., Fumo, W., et al. (2022) · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108549 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Brantnell, A., Temiz, S., Baraldi, E., Woodford, J., & von Essen, L. (2023) · JMIR Human Factors · doi:10.2196/44688 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Wang, J., Yuan, G. F., Shi, X., Tang, A., & Shi, W. (2022) · Archives of Psychiatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2022.07.011 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Reflections on the next ten years of research, policy and implementation in global mental health
Lund, C. (2020) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s204579601900074x · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Joshi, U., Naslund, J. A., Anand, A., Tugnawat, D., Vishwakarma, R., Bhan, A., Patel, V., & Lu, C. (2022) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114299 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationTriplett, N. S., Munson, S., Mbwayo, A., Mutavi, T., Weiner, B. J., Collins, P., Amanya, C., & Dorsey, S. (2021) · Implementation Science Communications · doi:10.1186/s43058-020-00102-9 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Remote Assessment of Depression Using Digital Biomarkers From Cognitive Tasks
Mandryk, R. L., Birk, M. V., Vedress, S., Wiley, K., Reid, E., Berger, P., & Frommel, J. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.767507 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Contextual behavioral science and global mental health: synergies and opportunities
White, R. G., Gregg, J., Batten, S., Hayes, L. L., & Kasujja, R. (2017) · Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.07.001 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Optimizing Expectations via Mobile Apps: A New Approach for Examining and Enhancing Placebo Effects
Gruszka, P., Burger, C., & Jensen, M. P. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00365 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
van der Westhuizen, C., Malan, M., Naledi, T., Roelofse, M., Myers, B., Stein, D. J., Lahri, S., & Sorsdahl, K. (2021) · Addiction Science & Clinical Practice · doi:10.1186/s13722-021-00239-5 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Luitel, N. P., Neupane, V., Lamichhane, B., Koirala, G. P., Gautam, K., Karki, E., Adhikari, S., Votruba, N., Jordans, M. J., Kohrt, B. A., et al. (2023) · SSM - Mental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100278 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Abi Ramia, J., Abi Hana, R., Noun, P., Cuijpers, P., Carswell, K., van't Hof, E., Heim, E., Zoghbi, E., Sijbrandij, M., & El Chammay, R. (2024) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1293187 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Toyama, M., Diez-Canseco, F., Busse, P., Del Mastro, I., & Miranda, J. J. (2018) · Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics · doi:10.1017/gheg.2017.18 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Siddiqui, S., Gonsalves, P. P., & Naslund, J. A. (2022) · Mental Health in a Digital World · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822201-0.00004-6 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationO'Donnell, A. (2020) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.14986 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., Araya, R., Marsch, L. A., Unützer, J., Patel, V., & Bartels, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Dartmouth College (US)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- University of Washington (US)
- Corresponding author
- Naslund, John A
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Lancet Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-06
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 486-500
- ISSN
- 2215-0366 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5523650
- OpenAlex
- W2606858293
- Cited by
- 638
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 91 · 2025: 94 · 2024: 76 · 2023: 106 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 94 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 7
- FWCI
- 3.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- kclpure.kcl.ac.uk
- Licence
- Locations
- The Lancet Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cooperative agreement number, U48 DP005018)
- Additional funding was received from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH104555)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30 DA029926)
- National Institute of Mental Health (U19 MH109988-01)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Keywords
- digital mental health interventions, mental illness, low- and middle-income countries, mobile health, text messaging, telephone support, access to mental health care, medication adherence, substance misuse prevention, psychiatric diagnosis, recovery support, feasibility and acceptability
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Community Health Workers, Delivery of Health Care, Developing Countries, Feasibility Studies, Female, Humans, Income, Male, Poverty, Cell Phone, Text Messaging
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
