Mental Health Smartphone Apps: Review and Evidence-Based Recommendations for Future Developments

Area of Science:

• Digital health interventions
• Mobile health (mHealth) applications
• Evidence-based mental healthcare

Background:

• Rapid increase in the number of available mental health apps (MHapps).
• Lack of standardized guidelines for developing evidence-based MHapps.
• Prevalence of MHapps with suboptimal or missing features, and limited experimental validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide clear, practical, evidence-based recommendations for MHapp developers.
• To guide the creation of more rigorous and effective mental health applications.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature review.
• Scrutinized research from mental health interventions, preventative health, mobile health, and mobile app design fields.

Main Results:

• Formulated 16 distinct recommendations for MHapp development.
• Discussed evidence supporting each recommendation and offered integration guidance.
• Rated recommendations based on the strength of supporting evidence; acknowledged that not all recommendations may fit into a single app due to design complexity and user engagement needs.

Conclusions:

• Emphasized the necessity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for validating future MHapps and their underlying principles.
• Highlighted the role of effective MHapps in mental health problem prevention and alleviating healthcare system burdens.
• Called for further investigation into the presented recommendations.