Chen Tianjiao, Ou Jingyi, Li Gege, Luo Heng
Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 Mar 12;15:1356554. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356554. eCollection 2024.
The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among children and adolescents has prompted a growing number of researchers and practitioners to explore digital technology interventions, which offer convenience, diversity, and proven effectiveness in addressing such problems. However, the existing literature reveals a significant gap in comprehensive reviews that consolidate findings and discuss the potential of digital technologies in enhancing mental health.
To clarify the latest research progress on digital technology to promote mental health in the past decade (2013-2023), we conducted two studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The systematic review is based on 59 empirical studies identified from three screening phases, with basic information, types of technologies, types of mental health issues as key points of analysis for synthesis and comparison. The meta-analysis is conducted with 10 qualified experimental studies to determine the overall effect size of digital technology interventions and possible moderating factors.
The results revealed that (1) there is an upward trend in relevant research, comprising mostly experimental and quasi-experimental designs; (2) the common mental health issues include depression, anxiety, bullying, lack of social emotional competence, and mental issues related to COVID-19; (3) among the various technological interventions, mobile applications (apps) have been used most frequently in the diagnosis and treatment of mental issues, followed by virtual reality, serious games, and telemedicine services; and (4) the meta-analysis results indicated that digital technology interventions have a moderate and significant effect size ( = 0.43) for promoting mental health.
Based on these findings, this study provides guidance for future practice and research on the promotion of adolescent mental health through digital technology.
https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2023-12-0004/, doi: 10.37766/inplasy2023.12.0004.
儿童和青少年心理健康问题的患病率不断上升，促使越来越多的研究人员和从业者探索数字技术干预措施，这些措施在解决此类问题方面具有便利性、多样性且已被证明有效。然而，现有文献显示，在整合研究结果并讨论数字技术在促进心理健康方面的潜力的综合综述中存在重大差距。
为了阐明过去十年（2013 - 2023年）数字技术促进心理健康的最新研究进展，我们进行了两项研究：系统综述和荟萃分析。系统综述基于从三个筛选阶段确定的59项实证研究，将基本信息、技术类型、心理健康问题类型作为综合和比较分析的关键点。荟萃分析采用10项合格的实验研究来确定数字技术干预的总体效应大小和可能的调节因素。
结果显示：（1）相关研究呈上升趋势，主要包括实验性和准实验性设计；（2）常见的心理健康问题包括抑郁症、焦虑症、欺凌、社交情感能力缺乏以及与新冠疫情相关的心理问题；（3）在各种技术干预措施中，移动应用程序在心理问题的诊断和治疗中使用最为频繁，其次是虚拟现实、严肃游戏和远程医疗服务；（4）荟萃分析结果表明，数字技术干预在促进心理健康方面具有中等且显著的效应大小（= 0.43）。
基于这些发现，本研究为未来通过数字技术促进青少年心理健康的实践和研究提供了指导。
https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2023-12-0004/，doi: 10.37766/inplasy2023.12.0004 。
