Mental Health Apps and Crisis Support: Exploring the Impact of 988

Mental health apps continue to grow in popularity. However, although these apps offer many benefits, they are not equipped to manage mental health crises alone, and they often refer users to external resources. In 2022, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was officially recognized as the U.S. national standard suicide hotline. This naturalistic experimental study aimed to assess the crisis resources offered within these apps as well as their responsiveness to implementation of national guidelines.

The authors conducted a thorough search of the mental health app marketplace in January 2024 and collected a representative sample of mental health apps (N=302) available to download. A team of raters assessed each app with a modified version of the American Psychiatric Association's app evaluation model and specifically examined the presence and functionality of crisis resources.

Findings indicated that 15% of the apps referred users to 988, and 24% offered an alternative hotline. Of note, 14 apps that had collectively been downloaded >3.5 million times provided incorrect or nonfunctional alternative crisis hotlines.

To avoid the harmful effects of a nonfunctional hotline, within-app crisis resources require thorough screening and regular developer updates.