The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Current state of scientific evidence on Internet-based interventions for the treatment of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: ICare represents a consortium of European Investigators examining the effects of online mental health care for a variety of common mental health disorders provided in a variety of settings. This article provides an overview of the evidence of effectiveness for Internet-based treatment for four common mental health disorders that are the focus of much of this work: depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders. METHODS: The overview focused primarily on systematic reviews and meta-analyses identified through PubMed (Ovid) and other databases and published in English. Given the large number of reviews specific to depression, anxiety, substance abuse and/or eating disorders, we did not focus on reviews that examined the effects of Internet-based interventions on mental health disorders in general. Each article was reviewed and summarized by one of the senior authors, and this review was then reviewed by the other senior authors. We did not address issues of prevention, cost-effectiveness, implementation or dissemination, as these are addressed in other reviews in this supplement. RESULTS: Across Internet-based intervention studies addressing depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders primarily among adults, almost all reviews and meta-analyses found that these interventions successfully reduce symptoms and are efficacious treatments. Generally, effect sizes for Internet-based interventions treating eating disorders and substance abuse are lower compared with interventions for depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Given the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions to reduce symptoms of these common mental health disorders, efforts are needed to examine issues of how they can be best disseminated and implemented in a variety of health care and other settings.
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“In recent years, numerous meta-analyses have shown the effectiveness of IBIs in treating various mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse (Taylor et al., 2021).”
From TONI - One for all? Participatory development of a transtheoretic and transdiagnostic online intervention for blended care (2024) · cites this paper as Taylor et al., 2021
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“Similar Internet-based self-guided interventions to reduce depressive and anxious symptomatology have shown promising results (Taylor et al., 2021; Kurniawan et al., 2022).”
From Internet-based self-administered intervention to reduce anxiety and depression symptomatology and improve well-being in 7 countries: protocol of a randomized control trial (2024) · cites this paper as Taylor et al., 2021
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Cites
Computer-based psychological treatments for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis
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Flatt, R. E., Thornton, L. M., Tregarthen, J., Argue, S., & Bulik, C. M. (2024) · doi:10.2196/preprints.68824
Self-citationDigital Interventions for Bipolar Disorder
Enrique, Á., Akkol‐Solakoglu, S., Matthews, M. L., & Richards, D. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-63349-2_10
Alharbi, A., Alfawaz, W., Al-Musharaf, S., & Aldhwayan, M. (2025) · Topics in Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1097/tin.0000000000000401
Developing a digital intervention to combat fatphobia and anti-fat bias
Laboe, A., Sheil, E., Jennings, E. L., Steinhoff, M. F., Goldberg, J., Sagat, K., Gavuji, M., & Schaumberg, K. E. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1569841
Work-focused therapy in an internet-based CBT format – A mixed methods feasibility study
Monsen, H., Vøllestad, J., Prescott, P. A., Røren, A., Bruvik, K. H., Berge, T., Wallace, P. W., Nordgreen, T., Titov, N., & Hovland, A. (2025) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2025.100855
“…cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT), which has shown effectiveness across a wide range of common mental disorders (Andersson et al., 2019; Taylor et al., 2021), to produce results similar to face-to-face treatment (Hedman-Lagerl ¨ of et al., 2023) and to be effective in routine care…”
Tiburcio, M., Martínez-Vélez, N. A., Bernal-Pérez, P., & Lara, M. A. (2025) · International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction · doi:10.1007/s11469-025-01536-9
“Studies in this field (Ojeahere et al., 2022; Prochaska et al., 2021; Taylor et al., 2021) have analyzed the impact of digital interventions on mental health, identifying the prevailing technologies, therapeutic approaches used, the expected results, and the theoretical models underpinning these…”
Mousavi, N., Momeni, F., Pourshahbaz, A., Poursharifi, H., Daneshian, Z., & Andersson, G. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1500214
Holgersen, G., Abdi-Dezfuli, S. E., Friis Darrud, S., Stornes Espeset, E. M., Bircow Elgen, I., & Nordgreen, T. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.25980441
Holgersen, G., Abdi-Dezfuli, S. E., Friis Darrud, S., Stornes Espeset, E. M., Bircow Elgen, I., & Nordgreen, T. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.25980620
Arbit, S. E., Kirsch, A. C., Nowakowski, L. M., Meagher, M., Karl, A. N., Blum, A. L., Assink, M., & Conley, C. S. (2026) · Eating Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2026.102070
Zaman, M., Qadir, T., Muslim, M., & Jehangir, A. (2026) · International Journal of Environmental Research · doi:10.1007/s41742-025-01037-6
Co‐Designing a Virtual Reality Intervention for Adolescents With Psychosis
Holgersen, G., Barsnes, A., Pedersen, O. B., Nordgreen, T., & Elgen, I. B. (2026) · Early Intervention in Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/eip.70145
“Some of the most frequent barriers are lack of acceptance and engagement by patients and clinicians (Taylor et al. 2021; Topooco et al. 2017; Vis et al. 2018).”
Afzal, A., Imdad, A., Hussain, I., Ansari, Z. K., Zahid, A., Javed, S., Ashfaq, N., & Iqbal, K. (2025) · doi:10.61748/apit.2025/13
Co-occurring Psychiatric Disorders
Maruti, S. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-24174-0_22
Metadata
- Authors
- Taylor, C. B., Graham, A. K., Flatt, R. E., Waldherr, K., & Fitzsimmons-Craft, E. E.
- Affiliations
- Palo Alto University (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt (AT)
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Corresponding author
- Taylor, C Barr
- Venue
- European Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-09-11
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- Supplement_1
- Pages
- i3-i10
- ISSN
- 1101-1262 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-360X
- PMC
- PMC8266528
- OpenAlex
- W3085610539
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 2.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- European Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R01 MH100455, R01 MH115128, K01 DK116925)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- online intervention, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, treatment efficacy, symptom relief, effect size, common mental disorders
- MeSH terms
- Systematic Reviews as Topic, Internet-Based Intervention, Adult, Anxiety, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Depression, Humans, Substance-Related Disorders
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