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. 2024 Mar 12:15:1356554.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356554. eCollection 2024.

Promoting mental health in children and adolescents through digital technology: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tianjiao Chen  1 , Jingyi Ou  1 , Gege Li  1 , Heng Luo  1
Affiliations

Promoting mental health in children and adolescents through digital technology: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tianjiao Chen et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: The increasing prevalence of mental health issues among children and adolescents has prompted a growing number of researchers and practitioners to explore digital technology interventions, which offer convenience, diversity, and proven effectiveness in addressing such problems. However, the existing literature reveals a significant gap in comprehensive reviews that consolidate findings and discuss the potential of digital technologies in enhancing mental health.

Methods: To clarify the latest research progress on digital technology to promote mental health in the past decade (2013-2023), we conducted two studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The systematic review is based on 59 empirical studies identified from three screening phases, with basic information, types of technologies, types of mental health issues as key points of analysis for synthesis and comparison. The meta-analysis is conducted with 10 qualified experimental studies to determine the overall effect size of digital technology interventions and possible moderating factors.

Results: The results revealed that (1) there is an upward trend in relevant research, comprising mostly experimental and quasi-experimental designs; (2) the common mental health issues include depression, anxiety, bullying, lack of social emotional competence, and mental issues related to COVID-19; (3) among the various technological interventions, mobile applications (apps) have been used most frequently in the diagnosis and treatment of mental issues, followed by virtual reality, serious games, and telemedicine services; and (4) the meta-analysis results indicated that digital technology interventions have a moderate and significant effect size (g = 0.43) for promoting mental health.

Conclusion: Based on these findings, this study provides guidance for future practice and research on the promotion of adolescent mental health through digital technology.

Systematic review registration: https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2023-12-0004/, doi: 10.37766/inplasy2023.12.0004.

Keywords: children and adolescents; digital technology; mental health issues; meta-analysis; systematic literature review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screening process and results.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trend in the number of studies published in the past decade.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Numbers of studies by mental health issues and technology interventions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distributions of effect sizes for mental health treatment outcomes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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