mHealth Interventions for Self-Harm: Scoping Review.

Area of Science:

• Digital health
• Mental health interventions
• Public health

Background:

• Self-harm is a growing public health concern with increasing prevalence.
• Individuals engaging in self-harm often face barriers to accessing traditional treatment.
• Mobile health (mHealth) interventions offer a potential solution to improve access to support and mental health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive scoping review of mHealth interventions for self-harm.
• To identify and categorize existing mHealth interventions for self-harm.
• To understand the features, research findings, and outcome measures of these interventions.

Main Methods:

• A systematic search was performed across multiple major scientific databases.
• Inclusion criteria focused on mHealth interventions with direct or indirect treatment effects for self-harm.
• No study design exclusion criteria were applied to ensure an exhaustive review.

Main Results:

• 36 papers were included, predominantly randomized controlled trials from the last four years.
• Interventions primarily consisted of smartphone apps and communication services, often based on therapeutic models.
• While promising and appealing, only five interventions were widely available, with limited sample diversity and outcome measurement variety.

Conclusions:

• Developed mHealth interventions for self-harm are promising but lack widespread availability.
• Future research should prioritize greater diversity in study samples.
• A more nuanced understanding of self-harm recovery is needed to inform intervention development and evaluation.