Technology Matters: BlueIce - using a smartphone app to beat adolescent self-harm

Area of Science:

• Digital mental health
• Adolescent psychology
• Self-harm prevention

Background:

• Mental health apps are widespread, but few target self-harm prevention.
• Existing apps for self-harm have limited outcome data.
• Adolescents are a vulnerable population with specific needs for mental health support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe available self-harm prevention apps.
• To summarize existing outcome data for these apps.
• To present the design, content, and initial outcomes of the BlueIce app, specifically for adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing mental health apps focused on self-harm.
• Analysis of app features and content.
• Description of the BlueIce app's development process.
• Presentation of initial outcome data from the BlueIce app.

Main Results:

• A review of current apps reveals a gap in self-harm prevention tools.
• Limited but encouraging outcome data exists for available self-harm apps.
• The BlueIce app, designed for adolescents, demonstrates positive initial results.

Conclusions:

• There is a need for more effective digital tools for adolescent self-harm prevention.
• The BlueIce app shows potential as a novel intervention for this population.
• Further research is warranted to validate the efficacy of the BlueIce app.