The Use of Technology in the Clinical Care of Anxiety: An Evidence Map
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Cost, distance, and stigma may present barriers to face-to-face treatment for anxiety disorders. Technology can help overcome these barriers. The evidence map presented here provides an overview of technology use in clinical care for anxiety. METHODS: Searches in three databases from their inception dates to June 2019 identified published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining technology use in anxiety disorder management. Reviewers screened 4,061 records, included 128 RCTs, and extracted data on study characteristics and technology type, function, and effectiveness. RESULTS: In 88% of the 128 RCTs, the authors reported reduced anxiety symptoms postintervention. Studies of computer technology (66%) and patient self-directed psychotherapy (31%) were most common. Many interventions were studied by only a few RCTs, and many studies had small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all interventions reported improved anxiety symptoms, with computer applications having the largest evidence base. More information is needed to evaluate the role of technology in clinical care for anxiety.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
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?
Web-based interventions have been shown to effectively reduce the severity of symptoms of anxiety.
“web-based interventions have been shown to effectively reduce the severity of symptoms of depression [10], anxiety [11], and social anxiety [12]”
From Web-Based Interventions to Help Australian Adults Address Depression, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideation, and General Mental Well-being: Scoping Review (2022) · cites this paper as [11]
Cites
GRADE guidelines: 3. Rating the quality of evidence
Balshem, H., Helfand, M., Schünemann, H. J., Oxman, A. D., Kunz, R., Brozek, J., Vist, G. E., Falck-Ytter, Y., Meerpohl, J., & Norris, S. (2011) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.07.015 · Cited by 8,285 · see citing works
How stigma interferes with mental health care.
Corrigan, P. (2004) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.59.7.614 · Cited by 3,648 · see citing works
Wang, P. S., Lane, M., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., Wells, K. B., & Kessler, R. C. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.629 · Cited by 2,695 · see citing works
Aromataris, E., Fernandez, R., Godfrey, C. M., Holly, C., Khalil, H., & Tungpunkom, P. (2015) · International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare · doi:10.1097/xeb.0000000000000055 · Cited by 2,587 · see citing works
(2011) · Cited by 2,032 · see citing works
Computer-based psychological treatments for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Richards, D., & Richardson, T. (2012) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2012.02.004 · Cited by 1,442 · see citing works
Andrews, G., Cuijpers, P., Craske, M. G., McEvoy, P., & Titov, N. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013196 · Cited by 1,311 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of the Impact of Adherence on the Effectiveness of e-Therapies
Donkin, L., Christensen, H., Naismith, S. L., Neal, B., Hickie, I. B., & Glozier, N. (2011) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.1772 · Cited by 876 · see citing works
Firth, J., Torous, J., Nicholas, J., Carney, R., Rosenbaum, S., & Sarris, J. (2017) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.046 · Cited by 675 · see citing works
Miake-Lye, I. M., Hempel, S., Shanman, R., & Shekelle, P. G. (2016) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0204-x · Cited by 660 · see citing works
Self-citationBarriers to Mental Health Treatment in Rural Older Adults
Brenes, G. A., Danhauer, S. C., Lyles, M. F., Hogan, P. E., & Miller, M. E. (2015) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2015.06.002 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Hof, E. V., Cuijpers, P., & Stein, D. J. (2009) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852900027279 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Skaczkowski, G., van der Kruk, S., Loxton, S., Hughes-Barton, D., Howell, C., Turnbull, D., Jensen, N., Smout, M., & Gunn, K. (2022) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/31018 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Across the globe, web-based interventions have been shown to effectively reduce the severity of symptoms of depression [10], anxiety [11], and social anxiety [12] and increase mental health literacy [13] and the ability to recognize, accept, deal with, and help prevent mental health issues [14].”
Background
- Authors
- Maher, A. R., Apaydin, E. A., Raaen, L., Motala, A., Baxi, S., & Hempel, S.
- Affiliations
- RAND Corporation (US)
- Venue
- Psychiatric Services
- Published
- 2021-02-01
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 195-199
- ISSN
- 0022-1597 (ISSN-L)
- 1075-2730
- 1557-9700
- OpenAlex
- W3112340516
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatric Services (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Keywords
- anxiety disorders, digital mental health interventions, computer-assisted therapy, barriers to treatment, treatment effectiveness, randomized controlled trials
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Psychotherapy, Technology
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
