AI-enhanced, digital psychosocial interventions for pediatric developmental disabilities: A scoping review

A variety of challenges exist to the well-being of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities (DDs). Barriers exist to traditional, in-person psychosocial services for many children and adolescents with DDs. Pediatric nurses often have limited time to provide psychosocial support to this population in the clinical setting. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enhanced, digital psychosocial interventions can help fill this gap by providing tools that support emotional and mental health outside of brief clinical encounters.

This paper mapped the existing literature on the experiences of children and adolescents with DDs with AI-enhanced, digital psychosocial interventions, highlighting intervention types, psychosocial outcomes, challenges, and implications for pediatric nursing.

Using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework, we searched APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, and PubMed (January 2015-July 2025) for peer-reviewed, English-language studies evaluating AI-enhanced digital psychosocial interventions for children/adolescents with DDs. Eligible interventions included chatbots, neurofeedback, serious games, and apps with adaptive algorithms.

Seven studies met inclusion criteria, underscoring an early evidence base at the intersection of pediatric DDs, psychosocial care, and AI. Interventions improved quality of life, emotion regulation, language, and social communication, but challenges included participant dropouts, vocabulary mismatches, and technical issues (e.g., network failures).

Artificial intelligence-enhanced, digital psychosocial interventions show promise, but evidence is limited, fragmented, and focused mainly on autism spectrum disorder. Multicenter and cost-effectiveness studies are needed. Pediatric nurses can guide families in selecting and integrating these tools.