Youth Digital Mental Health Training Needs in Academic and Industry Sectors

Given the limited availability of evidence-based, in-person mental health care, digital mental health (DMH) is a rapidly growing field that is uniquely poised to address mental health needs in children and adolescents. The youth DMH field operates across multiple sectors (e.g., academic and industry) and bridges multiple disciplines (e.g., child development, clinical psychology, user design/experience, pediatrics), but little is known about the training needs and existing opportunities to prepare students to effectively contribute to the youth DMH workforce. To address this gap, the current study conducted a needs assessment, using a mixed-methods survey design, with an academic (N = 107) sample asked about training needs, strengths, and barriers in an academic research environment, and an industry (N = 60) sample asked to identify training needs, strengths, and barriers for graduates to effectively contribute to youth DMH industry roles. Quantitative findings suggest different training needs are endorsed at different frequencies by academic and industry sectors. The academic sample emphasized training needs in DMH-relevant research design and methodology, whereas the industry sample prioritized training in the fundamentals of healthcare administration. Qualitative findings highlighted the key priorities across academic and industry fields, including the logistics of conducting academic research (e.g., funding resources and research design) and translating academic research training into an industry space (e.g., demonstrating value for business and understanding industry research standards). These findings indicate a need for academic programs to provide tailored training and support to ready trainees to advance effective youth DMH.