Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
PeerJ. 2022 Mar 31;10:e13111. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13111. eCollection 2022.
Poor mental health among university students remains a pressing public health issue. Over the past few years, digital health interventions have been developed and considered promising in increasing psychological wellbeing among university students. Therefore, this umbrella review aims to synthesize evidence on digital health interventions targeting university students and to evaluate their effectiveness.
A systematic literature search was performed in April 2021 searching PubMed, Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection, Web of Science, ERIC, and Scopus for systematic reviews and meta-analyses on digital mental health interventions targeting university students. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews PROSPERO [CRD42021234773].
The initital literature search resulted in 806 records of which seven remained after duplicates were removed and evaluated against the inclusion criteria. Effectiveness was reported and categorized into the following six delivery types: (a) web-based, online/computer-delivered interventions (b) computer-based Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), (c) mobile applications and short message service (d) virtual reality interventions (e) skills training (f) relaxation and exposure-based therapy. Results indicated web-based online/computer delivered-interventions were effective or at least partially effective at decressing depression, anxiety, stress and eating disorder symptoms. This was similar for skills-training interventions, CBT-based intervention and mobile applications. However, digital mental health interventions using virtual reality and relaxation, exposure-based therapy was inconclusive. Due to the variation in study settings and inconsistencies in reporting, effectiveness was greatly dependent on the delivery format, targeted mental health problem and targeted purpose group.
The findings provide evidence for the beneficial effect of digital mental health interventions for university students. However, this review calls for a more systematic approach in testing and reporting the effectiveness of digital mental health interventions.
大学生的心理健康问题仍然是一个紧迫的公共卫生问题。在过去的几年中，已经开发出数字健康干预措施，并被认为可以提高大学生的心理健康水平。因此，本伞式综述旨在综合针对大学生的数字心理健康干预措施的证据，并评估其有效性。
2021 年 4 月，我们在 PubMed、心理学与行为科学合集、Web of Science、ERIC 和 Scopus 中进行了系统的文献检索，以查找针对大学生的数字心理健康干预措施的系统评价和荟萃分析。该综述方案已在国际前瞻性系统评价注册库 PROSPERO（CRD42021234773）中进行了注册。
初始文献检索得到了 806 条记录，其中 7 条记录在去除重复项并根据纳入标准进行评估后仍然保留。报告了有效性，并分为以下六种交付类型：(a)基于网络的在线/计算机干预(b)基于计算机的认知行为疗法(CBT)，(c)移动应用程序和短消息服务(d)虚拟现实干预(e)技能培训(f)放松和暴露疗法。结果表明，基于网络的在线/计算机干预措施在降低抑郁、焦虑、压力和饮食障碍症状方面是有效或至少部分有效的。技能培训干预、CBT 干预和移动应用程序也是如此。然而，使用虚拟现实和放松、暴露疗法的数字心理健康干预措施的效果尚无定论。由于研究设置的差异和报告的不一致性，有效性在很大程度上取决于交付形式、针对的心理健康问题和目标人群。
这些发现为数字心理健康干预对大学生的有益效果提供了证据。然而，本综述呼吁更系统地测试和报告数字心理健康干预措施的有效性。
