Digital Health Interventions in Prevention, Relapse, and Therapy of Mild and Moderate Depression: Scoping Review

Tokgöz, Pinar; Hrynyschyn, Robert; Hafner, Jessica; Schönfeld, Simone; Dockweiler, Christoph

doi:10.2196/26268

Cited by 36Digital Mental Health InterventionsMobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Digital Health Interventions in Prevention, Relapse, and Therapy of Mild and Moderate Depression: Scoping Review

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Tokgöz, Pinar, Hrynyschyn, Robert, Hafner, Jessica, Schönfeld, Simone, Dockweiler, Christoph·2021·JMIR Mental Health

DOI 10.2196/26268PMC PMC8087966

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Abstract

Background: Depression is a major cause for disability worldwide, and digital health interventions are expected to be an augmentative and effective treatment. According to the fast-growing field of information and communication technologies and its dissemination, there is a need for mapping the technological landscape and its benefits for users. Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to give an overview of the digital health interventions used for depression. The main goal of this review was to provide a comprehensive review of the system landscape and its technological state and functions, as well as its evidence and benefits for users. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of digital health interventions for the treatment of depression. PubMed, PSYNDEX, and the Cochrane Library were searched by two independent researchers in October 2020 to identify relevant publications of the last 10 years, which were examined using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. To conduct the review, we used Rayyan, a freely available web tool. Results: In total, 65 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. After categorizing the studies into the areas of prevention, early detection, therapy, and relapse prevention, we found dominant numbers of studies in the area of therapy (n=52). There was only one study for prevention, 5 studies for early detection, and 7 studies for relapse prevention. The most dominant therapy approaches were cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and problem-solving therapy. Most of the studies revealed significant effects of digital health interventions when cognitive behavioral therapy was applied. Cognitive behavioral therapy as the most dominant form was often provided through web-based systems. Combined interventions consisting of web-based and smartphone-based approaches are increasingly found. Conclusions: Digital health interventions for treating depression are quite comprehensive. There are different interventions focusing on different fields of care. While most interventions can be beneficial to achieve a better depression treatment, it can be difficult to determine which approaches are suitable. Cognitive behavioral therapy through digital health interventions has shown good effects in the treatment of depression, but treatment for depression still stays very individualistic.

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Many reviews of the evidence for web-based interventions for specific disorders and for specific populations have been undertaken in recent years.
“many reviews of the evidence for web-based interventions for specific disorders (eg, depression [29-31]) and for specific populations (eg, adolescents and young adults [32,33]) have been undertaken in recent years.”
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 [30]

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Influential
An online intervention for reducing depressive symptoms: Secondary benefits for self-esteem, empowerment and quality of life
Crisp, D. A., Griffiths, K. M., Mackinnon, A. J., Bennett, K., & Christensen, H. M. (2014) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2014.01.041 · Cited by 60 · cited 4× · see citing works
“The majority of studies (41/52) differentiated between an IG and CG and were conducted as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) [22,24,27-29, 33-52 33-52”
Influential
Behavioral and cognitive intervention strategies delivered via coached apps for depression: Pilot trial.
Stiles-Shields, C., Montague, E., Kwasny, M. J., & Mohr, D. C. (2019) · Psychological Services · doi:10.1037/ser0000261 · Cited by 59 · cited 2× · see citing works
“%) were offered as guided interventions in which a therapist supported t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s [21,25,26,28,29,31-39, 42-44 42-44,”
Use of a Fully Automated Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy Intervention in a Community Population of Adults With Depression Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial
Schure, M. B., Lindow, J. C., Greist, J. H., Nakonezny, P. A., Bailey, S. J., Bryan, W. L., & Byerly, M. (2019) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/14754 · Cited by 50 · cited 3× · see citing works
“CBT was the dominant form of therapy in 54% (28/52) of the studies [21,23,24,28,30,32,39-41,43-46,48-50,52,55-57,60-62, 65-67,70-72].”
Transdiagnostic, Psychodynamic Web-Based Self-Help Intervention Following Inpatient Psychotherapy: Results of a Feasibility Study and Randomized Controlled Trial
Zwerenz, R., Becker, J., Johansson, R., Frederick, R. J., Andersson, G., & Beutel, M. E. (2017) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.7889 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
A web-based transdiagnostic intervention for affective and mood disorders: randomized controlled trial.
Tulbure, B. T., Rusu, A., Sava, F. A., Sălăgean, N., & Farchione, T. J. (2018) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.8901 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
‘Mind the gaps’: the accessibility and implementation of an effective depression relapse prevention programme in UK NHS services: learning from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy through a mixed-methods study
Rycroft‐Malone, J., Gradinger, F., Griffiths, H. O., Anderson, R., Crane, R. S., Gibson, A., Mercer, S. W., & Kuyken, W. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026244 · Cited by 42 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Although there is an increasing awareness of mental health issues, accessibility to health care has been a key problem [2].”
Improving the Course of Depressive Symptoms After Inpatient Psychotherapy Using Adjunct Web-Based Self-Help: Follow-Up Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial
Zwerenz, R., Baumgarten, C., Becker, J., Tibubos, A. N., Siepmann, M., Knickenberg, R. J., & Beutel, M. E. (2019) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/13655 · Cited by 42 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Some studies used CBT , either Five studies described depression-specific symptoms as primary outcome [15-17, 19,”
Efficacy of Three Low-Intensity, Internet-Based Psychological Interventions for the Treatment of Depression in Primary Care: Randomized Controlled Trial
Gili, M., Castro, A., García‐Palacios, A., García‐Campayo, J., Mayoral, F., Botella, C., Roca, M., Barceló‐Soler, A., Hurtado, M. M., Navarro, M., et al. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/15845 · Cited by 36 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In 19% (9/52), mixed forms were used, consisting of 2 or more forms of therapy [27,31,33,34,42,47,51,58,59].”
Usability, Acceptability, and Adherence to an Electronic Self-Monitoring System in Patients With Major Depression Discharged From Inpatient Wards
Lauritsen, L., Andersen, L., Olsson, E. C., Søndergaard, S. R., Nørregaard, L. B., Løventoft, P. K., Svendsen, S. D., Frøkjær, E., Jensen, H. M., Hageman, I., et al. (2017) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.6673 · Cited by 33 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Some studies used CBT , either Five studies described depression-specific symptoms as primary outcome [15-17, 19,”
Economic Evaluation of a Web-Based Guided Self-Help Intervention for Employees With Depressive Symptoms
Geraedts, A. S., van Dongen, J. M., Kleiboer, A. M., Wiezer, N. M., van Mechelen, W., Cuijpers, P. J., & Bosmans, J. E. (2015) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000000423 · Cited by 32 · cited 9× · see citing works
“Most of the studies (39/52, 75%) used a web-based system in which an application was used online [21-23,28,33-46,48,49,52-55,57-67,69-72].”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Effects of web-based stress and depression literacy intervention on improving symptoms and knowledge of depression among workers: A randomized controlled trial
Imamura, K., Kawakami, N., Tsuno, K., Tsuchiya, M., Shimada, K., & Namba, K. (2016) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.05.045 · Cited by 31 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Of the studies with a positive effect, 76% (16/21) were transmitted via web-based applications [23,28,39,40,44,46,49,55,57,60-62,67,70-72] In contrast, 6 studies could be identified that showed no or neutral results: 5 were web-based interventions [21,41,43,65,66] and 1 study was designed as an app…”
Preliminary Evaluation of a Brief Web and Mobile Phone Intervention for Men With Depression: Men’s Positive Coping Strategies and Associated Depression, Resilience, and Work and Social Functioning
Fogarty, A. S., Proudfoot, J. G., Whittle, E. L., Clarke, J., Player, M. J., Christensen, H. M., & Wilhelm, K. A. (2017) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.7769 · Cited by 31 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Four studies were conducted in Australia [50-53].”
Randomized Controlled Trial of a Computerized Interactive Media-Based Problem Solving Treatment for Depression
Sandoval, L., Buckey, J., Ainslie, R., Tombari, M., Stone, W., & Hegel, M. T. (2016) · The Behavior Therapist · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2016.04.001 · Cited by 29 · cited 5× · see citing works
“One of the studies with a reported benefit was a web-based application [37] and the second was a virtual reality intervention [29].”
Influential
Economic Evaluation of an Internet-Based Preventive Cognitive Therapy With Minimal Therapist Support for Recurrent Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial
Klein, N. S., Bockting, C., Wijnen, B. F. M., Kok, G. D., van Valen, E., Riper, H. M., Cuijpers, P. J., Dekker, J., van der Heiden, C., Burger, H., et al. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/10437 · Cited by 29 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Four out of the 7 studies chose CBT as a therapeutic approach [16-18 ,20].”
Influential
Adherence predictors in an Internet-based Intervention program for depression
Castro, A., del Hoyo, Y. L., Peake, C., Mayoral, F., Botella, C., García‐Campayo, J., Baños, R., Nogueira‐Arjona, R., Roca, M., & Gili, M. (2017) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2017.1366546 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Diminishing Effects After Recurrent Use of Self-Guided Internet-Based Interventions in Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial
Bücker, L., Schnakenberg, P., Karyotaki, E., Moritz, S., & Westermann, S. (2019) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/14240 · Cited by 27 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…studies with a positive effect, 76% (16/21) were transmitted via web-based applications [23,28,39,40,44,46,49,55,57,60-62,67,70-72] In contrast, 6 studies could be identified that showed no or neutral results: 5 were web-based interventions [21,41,43,65,66] and 1 study was designed as an app [47].”
Internet-based CBT for patients with depressive disorders in primary and psychiatric care: Is it effective and does comorbidity affect outcome?
Flygare, A.-L., Engström, I., Hasselgren, M., Jansson-Fröjmark, M., Frejgrim, R., Andersson, G., & Holländare, F. (2019) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2019.100303 · Cited by 26 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Most of the studies (39/52, 75%) used a web-based system in which an application was used online [21-23,28,33-46,48,49,52-55,57-67,69-72].”
Influential
Evaluation of a text-message-based maintenance intervention for Major Depressive Disorder after inpatient cognitive behavioral therapy.
Schlicker, S., Ebert, D., Middendorf, T., Titzler, I., & Berking, M. (2018) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.047 · Cited by 25 · cited 2× · see citing works
“One study did not provide information on financing [15].”
Brief Web-Based Intervention for Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial on Behavioral Activation
Jelinek, L., Arlt, S., Moritz, S., Schröder, J., Westermann, S., & Cludius, B. (2019) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/15312 · Cited by 25 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The remaining studies either focused on cognitive restructuring [54], cognitive control therapy [22], behavioral activation [45,68], or supplied no information about the therapeutic approach that was used [25].”
Feasibility of a blended group treatment (bGT) for major depression: uncontrolled interventional study in a university setting
Schuster, R., Fichtenbauer, I., Sparr, V. M., Berger, T., & Laireiter, A.-R. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018412 · Cited by 23 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Most of the studies (39/52, 75%) used a web-based system in which an application was used online [21-23,28,33-46,48,49,52-55,57-67,69-72].”
Influential
Health economic evaluation of an internet intervention for depression (deprexis), a randomized controlled trial
Gräfe, V., Moritz, S., & Greiner, W. (2020) · Health Economics Review · doi:10.1186/s13561-020-00273-0 · Cited by 22 · cited 5× · see citing works
“%) were offered as guided interventions in which a therapist supported t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s [21,25,26,28,29,31-39, 42-44 42-44,”
Influential
Exploring the Incorporation of a Positive Psychology Component in a Cognitive Behavioral Internet-Based Program for Depressive Symptoms. Results Throughout the Intervention Process
Mira, A., Bretón-López, J., Enrique, Á., Castilla, D., García-Palacios, A., Baños, R., & Botella, C. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02360 · Cited by 21 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Three studies were conducted in Switzerland [54-56] and 4 in Spain [57-60].”
Influential
Managing Depressive Symptoms in the Workplace Using a Web-Based Self-Care Tool: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Hirsch, A., Luellen, J. K., Holder, J., Steinberg, G., Dubiel, T., Blazejowskyj, A., & Schladweiler, K. M. (2017) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/resprot.7203 · Cited by 20 · cited 3× · see citing works
“A total of 75% (21/28) of studies that chose a CBT approach reported a positive effect on the reduction of d e p r e s s i v e s y m p t o m s [23,24,28,30,32,39,40,44,46,49,50,55,57,60,62,67,70-72], 21% (6/28) could not find any effect in terms of reduction [21,41,43,47,65,66], and 4% (1/28) did…”
Wirkungen smartphonegestützter psychosomatischer Rehabilitationsnachsorge (eATROS) bei depressiven Patienten
Schmädeke, S., & Bischoff, C. (2015) · Verhaltenstherapie · doi:10.1159/000441856 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Web-based Therapy Plus Support by a Coach in Depressed Patients Referred to Secondary Mental Health Care: Randomized Controlled Trial
Hatcher, S., Whittaker, R., Patton, M., Miles, W., Ralph, N., Kercher, K., & Sharon, C. (2018) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/mental.8510 · Cited by 15 · cited 3× · see citing works
“New Zealand [69], Austria [70], Ireland [71], and Japan [72] were each represented with 1 study (Multimedia Appendix 1).”
Effect of a Mobile Monitoring System vs Usual Care on Depression Symptoms and Psychological Health
Place, S. S., Blanch‐Hartigan, D., Smith, V., Erb, J. L., Marci, C. D., & Ahern, D. K. (2020) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.19403 · Cited by 15 · cited 7× · see citing works
“In Place et al [11], the intervention consisted of a monitoring system that collected different types of metadata and clinicians providing feedback.”
Influential
Text Message Feedback to Support Mindfulness Practice in People With Depressive Symptoms: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Kraft, S., Wolf, M., Klein, T., Becker, T. M., Bauer, S., & Puschner, B. (2017) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.7095 · Cited by 14 · cited 3× · see citing works
“In the area of relapse prevention, 4 studies from Germany [14-17], 1 study from the Netherlands [18], 1 study from Denmark [19], and 1 from the United States [20] were identified (Multimedia Appendix 1).”
Health economic evaluation of a web-based intervention for depression: the EVIDENT-trial, a randomized controlled study
Gräfe, V., Berger, T., Hautzinger, M., Hohagen, F., Lutz, W., Meyer, B., Moritz, S., Rose, M., Schröder, J., Späth, C., et al. (2019) · Health Economics Review · doi:10.1186/s13561-019-0233-y · Cited by 14 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…studies with a positive effect, 76% (16/21) were transmitted via web-based applications [23,28,39,40,44,46,49,55,57,60-62,67,70-72] In contrast, 6 studies could be identified that showed no or neutral results: 5 were web-based interventions [21,41,43,65,66] and 1 study was designed as an app [47].”
Pilot study of psychotherapeutic text messaging for depression
Pfeiffer, P. N., Henry, J., Ganoczy, D. A., & Piette, J. D. (2016) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x16659955 · Cited by 11 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Other therapy approaches such as ACT (5/52, 9%) [26,35,38,63,64] and problem-solving therapy (4/52, 8%) [29,36,37,69] were significantly less common in interventions.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Predictors of Adherence in Three Low-Intensity Intervention Programs Applied by ICTs for Depression in Primary Care
Castro, A., García‐Palacios, A., del Hoyo, Y. L., Mayoral, F., Pérez-Ara, M. Á., Baños, R. M., García‐Campayo, J., Hurtado, M. M., Botella, C., Barceló‐Soler, A., et al. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18041774 · Cited by 9 · cited 5× · see citing works
“CBT was the dominant form of therapy in 54% (28/52) of the studies [21,23,24,28,30,32,39-41,43-46,48-50,52,55-57,60-62, 65-67,70-72].”
Influential
How individuals change during internet‐based interventions for depression: A randomized controlled trial comparing standardized and individualized feedback
Zagorscak, P., Heinrich, M., Bohn, J., Stein, J., & Knaevelsrud, C. (2019) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1484 · Cited by 7 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Most of the studies (39/52, 75%) used a web-based system in which an application was used online [21-23,28,33-46,48,49,52-55,57-67,69-72].”
Influential
Correction to: Health economic evaluation of an internet intervention for depression (deprexis), a randomized controlled trial
Gräfe, V., Moritz, S., & Greiner, W. (2020) · Health Economics Review · doi:10.1186/s13561-020-00280-1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Online-Selbstmanagement bei Depressionen – Die Beziehung von Dosis und Wirksamkeit im hausärztlichen Versorgungssetting
Löbner, M., Dorow, M., Pabst, A., Stein, J., Kersting, A., Luppa, M., König, H., & Riedel-Heller, S. G. (2019) · Fortschritte der Neurologie · Psychiatrie · doi:10.1055/a-0849-9802 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Efficacy of Three Low-Intensity, Internet-Based Psychological Interventions for the Treatment of Depression in Primary Care: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)
(2019) · doi:10.2196/preprints.15845 · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

[42]Ebert DD Buntrock C Lehr D Smit F Riper H Baumeister H Cuijpers P Berking M Effectiveness of web- and mobile-based treatment of subthreshold depression with adherence-focused guidance: a single-blind randomized controlled trial Behav Ther 2018 12 49 1 71 83 10.1016/j.beth.2017.05.004 29405923 29405923 · DOI · Paper page

Sorted by citations

Problems and Barriers Related to the Use of Digital Health Applications: Scoping Review
Giebel, G. D., Speckemeier, C., Abels, C., Plescher, F., Börchers, K., Wasem, J., Blase, N., & Neusser, S. (2023) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/43808 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Coaching to Support Mental Health Apps: Exploratory Narrative Review
Meyer, A., Wisniewski, H., & Torous, J. (2022) · JMIR Human Factors · doi:10.2196/28301 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
The Economics of Treatment for Depression
Stecher, C. D., Cloonan, S., & Domino, M. E. (2023) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-061022-040533 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Scoping Review on the Multimodal Classification of Depression and Experimental Study on Existing Multimodal Models
Ariöz, U., Smrke, U., Plohl, N., & Mlakar, I. (2022) · Diagnostics · doi:10.3390/diagnostics12112683 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
“Even in our scoping review, the sizes of the datasets were not sufﬁcient (DAIC-WOZ, 189 subjects; BDC WB, 51 subjects; AViD-C, 84 subjects).”
Effects of a Person-Centered eHealth Intervention for Patients on Sick Leave Due to Common Mental Disorders (PROMISE Study): Open Randomized Controlled Trial
Cederberg, M., Alsén, S., Ali, L., Ekman, I., Glise, K., Jónsdóttir, I. H., Gyllensten, H., Swedberg, K. B., & Fors, A. (2022) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/30966 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“Internet interventions have proven to be a viable alternative to face-to-face treatments in patients with CMDs [13-16].”
Self-guided digital acceptance and commitment therapy for fibromyalgia management: results of a randomized, active-controlled, phase II pilot clinical trial
Catella, S., Gendreau, R. M., Kraus, A. C., Vega, N., Rosenbluth, M. J., Soefje, S., Malhotra, S., Luciano, J. V., McCracken, L. M., Williams, D. A., et al. (2024) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-023-00429-3 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“…to effectively decrease anxiety and depression, conditions commonly comorbid with FM (Dahlin et al., 2016 ; Han & Kim, 2022 ; Kelson et al., 2019 ; Lappalainen et al., 2014 ; Lappalainen et al., 2015 ; Pots et al., 2016 ; Rickardsson et al., 2021 ; Thompson et al., 2021 ; Tokgoz et al., 2021 ).”
Background
Randomized controlled study of a digital data driven intervention for depressive and generalized anxiety symptoms
Fatouros, P., Tsirmpas, C., Andrikopoulos, D., Kaplow, S., Kontoangelos, K. A., & Papageorgiou, C. (2025) · npj Digital Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41746-025-01511-7 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“These results indicate robustreductionsinsymptomsacrossbothdepressionandanxiety,aligning with ﬁ ndingsfrompreviousstudiesofdigitalhealthinterventionsformental health 26,52 – 54 .”
Use of Mobile Sensing Data for Longitudinal Monitoring and Prediction of Depression Severity: Systematic Review
Amin, R., Schreynemackers, S., Oppenheimer, H., Petrovic, M., Hegerl, U., & Reich, H. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/57418 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“In between the episodes, there are symptom-free intervals, during which well-managed strategies might prevent the risk of a worsening status [8,9].”
A qualitative interview study of patients' attitudes towards and intention to use digital interventions for depressive disorders on prescription
Posselt, J., Baumann, E., & Dierks, M. (2024) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2024.1275569 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“Further, many research results generally do not suf ﬁ ciently distinguish between different digital approaches in mental health or DTx and non-medical applications (42, 43).”
Background
Digital Therapy: Alleviating Anxiety and Depression in Adolescent Students During COVID-19 Online Learning - A Scoping Review
Yosep, I., Suryani, S., Mediani, ‎. S., Mardhiyah, A., & Maulana, I. (2023) · Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare · doi:10.2147/jmdh.s416424 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Previous scoping review also found that digital-based nursing interventions were given to students to reduce student anxiety.(29,32) While students have other problems such as stress, depression, and anxiety.”
Background
Digitale Gesundheitsinterventionen entwickeln, evaluieren und implementieren (Teil I) – Diskussionspapier der Arbeitsgruppe Digital Health des Deutschen Netzwerk Versorgungsforschung (DNVF)
Kernebeck, S., Scheibe, M., Sinha, M., Fischer, F., Knapp, A., Timpel, P., Harst, L., Reininghaus, U., & Vollmar, H. C. (2022) · Das Gesundheitswesen · doi:10.1055/a-1933-2779 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Diese und weitere Herausforderungen bei der Evaluation [6] und Evidenzgenerierung [7] spiegeln sich in den Ergebnissen verschie-dener Übersichtsarbeiten wider, die auf eine eingeschränkte bis moderate Evidenz hinweisen [8, 9].”
Background
Digital Health Interventions in Depression Care—A Survey on Acceptance from the Perspective of Patients, Their Relatives and Health Professionals
Häfner, J., Schönfeld, S., Tokgöz, P., Choroschun, K., Schlubach, A., & Dockweiler, C. (2022) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare10102019 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Digital health interventions (DHIs) could be a solution to overcome existing or potential problems [4,5].”
BackgroundSelf-citation
The potential of psilocybin use to enhance well-being in healthy individuals – A scoping review
Wiepking, L., de Bruin, E. J., & Ghiţă, A. (2023) · Journal of Psychedelic Studies · doi:10.1556/2054.2023.00244 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“This is useful if the evidence on a topic is scarce (Tokgöz, Hrynyschyn, Hafner, Schönfeld, & Dockweiler, 2021) as is the case for research on psilocybin and the effect on well-being in healthy individuals.”
Background
The VESPA Project: Virtual Reality Interventions for Neurocognitive and Developmental Disorders
Merlo, E. M., Myles, L. A. M., & Pappalardo, S. (2022) · Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences · doi:10.22543/7674.91.p1627 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“Evidence adheres to several domains, such as in the case of cognitive deficits linked to developmental disorders and diseases [7,8], psychiatric conditions [9-16] and neurocognitive disorders [17-23].”
Background
Guided Internet-Delivered Treatment for Depression: Scoping Review
Børtveit, L., Dechsling, A., Sütterlin, S., Nordgreen, T., & Nordahl‐Hansen, A. (2022) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/37342 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Web-Based Interventions to Help Australian Adults Address Depression, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideation, and General Mental Well-being: Scoping Review
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
“We note that many reviews of the evidence for web-based interventions for specific disorders (eg, depression [29-31]) and for specific populations (eg, adolescents and young adults [32,33]) have been undertaken in recent years.”
Background
Verordnung Digitaler Gesundheitsanwendungen (DiGA) an Menschen mit depressiven Erkrankungen: Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Studie
Posselt, J., Klawunn, R., & Dierks, M. (2023) · Zeitschrift für Allgemeinmedizin · doi:10.1007/s44266-023-00034-2 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Feasibility of a Digital Coaching Program for Improving Mental Well-Being and Emotional Intelligence: Pragmatic Retrospective Cohort Study
Peiper, N. C., Pettitt, A., Shah, B., Atwood, O., Sivonen, E., & Pfeffer, J. (2025) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/71828 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Recently, digital coaching programs (DCP) have emerged as viable interventions grounded in behavioral science principles to help people with subclinical mental health problems improve their mental well-being, reduce stress, and prevent the onset of mental disorders [19].”
Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Cardiac Rehabilitation
Hamilton, D. E., Xie, J. X., Chang, A. L., Beatty, A. L., & Golbus, J. R. (2025) · Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention · doi:10.1097/hcr.0000000000000935 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Web-Based Psychotherapy and Exercise Interventions for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders
Carneiro, L. S. R. D. S. F., Afonso, J. R., Clemente, F. M., & Frontini, R. (2021) · Advances in psychology, mental health, and behavioral studies (APMHBS) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-8634-1.ch005 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Relapse prevention following guided self-help for common health problems: A Scoping Review
Nawaz, S., Bee, P., Devaney, H., & Faija, C. (2024) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-024-10520-x · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“A standard systematic review, differ - ently to a scoping review, aims to answer a specific research question (Tokgöz et al., 2021) and can be undertaken to confirm or refute hypotheses, report on the quality of the evi - dence base or address any variations or uncertainty (Munn et al., 2018).”
Persuasive chatbot-based interventions for depression: a list of recommendations for improving reporting standards
Denecke, K., Rivera-Romero, O., Wynn, R., & Gabarrón, E. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1429304 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Randomized trial of a digital single-session intervention for body image and mood concerns among LGBTQ+ adolescents
Smith, A. C., Ahuvia, I. L., Zapata, J. P., Cohen, K. A., Graham, A. K., & Schleider, J. L. (2025) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2025.104809 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
A randomized controlled trial of a brief internet intervention to prevent anxiety and depression among college students
Zimmermann, M., & Papa, A. (2023) · Mental Health & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.mhp.2023.200298 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Longitudinal outcomes of a therapist‐supported digital mental health intervention for depression and anxiety symptoms: A retrospective cohort study
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“Penyelidikan telah menunjukkan bahawa intervensi CBT berasaskan web berkesan untuk mengurangkan gejala kemurungan (Tokgöz, Hrynyschyn, Hafner, Schönfeld, & Dockweiler, 2021).”
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Insomnia Prevalence and Mental Health Correlates Among 18,646 Users of an Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Website: Archival Real-World Data from the United States, 2017-2019Preprint
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“While most of these technological programs focus on specific disorders for education or self-treatment goals - such as depression [54] - the comorbidity of multiple behavioral health risk factors often is not assessed.”
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“Previous research has shown that online CBT is as effective as face-to-face treatment [47-49].”

Digital health interventions in prevention, relapse and therapy of mild and moderate depression – a scoping review (Preprint)Preprint
Tokgöz, P., Hrynyschyn, R., Häfner, J., Schönfeld, S., & Dockweiler, C. (2020) · doi:10.2196/preprints.24833
Self-citation
Digital Psychotherapies for Adults Experiencing Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Omylinska‐Thurston, J., Aithal, S., Liverpool, S., Clark, R. D., Moula, Z., Wood, J., Viliardos, L., Rodríguez-Dorans, E., Farish-Edwards, F., Parsons, A. S., et al. (2024) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/55500 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
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Digital interventions for the treatment of depression: a meta-analytic review
Moshe, I., Terhorst, Y., Philippi, P., Domhardt, M., Cuijpers, P., Cristea, I., Pulkki-Råback, L., Baumeister, H., & Sander, L. B. (2021) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000334 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Digital Interventions for Depression : Predictors and Moderators of Treatment Adherence and Outcomes
Moshe, I. (2022) · Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja

Authors: Tokgöz, P., Hrynyschyn, R., Hafner, J., Schönfeld, S., & Dockweiler, C.
Affiliations: Bielefeld University (DE)
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
Witten/Herdecke University (DE)
Corresponding author: Tokgöz, Pinar
ORCID: Tokgöz, Pinar
Hrynyschyn, Robert
Hafner, Jessica
Schönfeld, Simone
Dockweiler, Christoph
Venue: JMIR Mental Health
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Published: 2021-04-16
Volume: 8
Issue: 4
Pages: e26268
ISSN: 2368-7959 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.2196/26268
PMC: PMC8087966
OpenAlex: W3133325027
Cited by: 36
References: 82
Citations by year: 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 1
FWCI: 1.11
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: gold
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
Locations: JMIR Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders: Landeszentrum Gesundheit Nordrhein-Westfalen
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Universität Bielefeld
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords: digital health interventions, depression, depression prevention, relapse prevention, early detection of depression, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, problem-solving therapy, online intervention, smartphone-based intervention

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Digital Health Interventions in Prevention, Relapse, and Therapy of Mild and Moderate Depression: Scoping Review

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