Table 1 Summary of the included studies
From: Digital technologies for mental health improvements in the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review
Study | Participant | Intervention | Study | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location | Age | Eligibility criteria | Sample size (completed) | Platform and techniques | Offered functions | Methodology | Mental health Measurement | Mental health outcomes | |
Agyapong et al. [28] | Canada | N.A. | N.A. | 766 | SMS text messaging | Providing daily supportive messages based on CBT | Web-based survey; Pre- and post-measurement; 6 weeks | Stress (PSS-10), Anxiety (GAD-7), Depression (PHQ-9) | Statistically significant reductions in: - Stress (t = 3.99, p < .001) - Anxiety (t = 9.86, p < .001) |
Boucher et al. [14] | United States | 18–64 years | Adults experiencing loneliness | 11 | Gamified mental health intervention | Providing gamified versions of evidence-based therapeutic activities | Asynchronous focus group; 3 days | Loneliness (Open-ended discussion and questions) | More active coping strategies (qualitatively) to address loneliness |
Brog et al. [26] | Germany | > 18 years | Adults with at least mild depressive symptoms | 107 | Internet-based CBT intervention | Providing psychoeducational training | RCT study with waiting control group; Pre- and post-measurement; 3 weeks | Depression (PHQ-9), Psychological distress (DASS-12), emotion regulation (SEK-27), Loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), Resilience (RISC) | Statistically significant increase in: - Emotion regulation skills (d = 0.35) - Resilience (d = 0.38) |
Bureau et al. [22] | France | 19–55 years | Healthcare workers | 10 | Internet-based CBT intervention | Providing psychoeducational training | Web-based survey and phone interview; 1 week | Perceived stress (phone interview) | Reductions (qualitatively) in perceived stress |
Charbonnier et al. [21] | France | N.A. | University students | 114 | Online self-help program (via Facebook) | Providing psychoeducational training | Non-randomized controlled study with control group; Pre- and post-measurement; 8 weeks | Anxiety and depressive symptoms (HADS), Learned helplessness (LHQ) | Statistically significant reductions in: - Anxiety (rrb = 0.49) - Learned helplessness (rrb = 0.51) |
Deng et al. [19] | China | 18–22 years | University students | 1607 | Web-based physical education | Providing web-based sports education during quarantine | Web-based survey | Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DASS-21) | Statistically significant reductions in (compared to a previous study): - Depression - Anxiety - Stress |
Ellis et al. [13] | Global | > 18 years | Adults playing certain AR games | 2004 | Location-based augmented reality (AR) games | Promoting increased physical activity and social connection | A mixed methods web-based survey | Mental well-being (WHO-5, and qualitative questions) | - General improvement on mental health (77.20% participant reported); - Improved emotional coping (42.60% participants reported) |
Firdhous [25] | Sri Lanka | > 18 years | Adults using online social media regularly | 231 | Online social media network | Maintaining the social contacts with friends and relatives | Web-based survey | Social resilience (Single item question) | Reduction in boredom (79.22% participants reported) |
Gabrielli et al. [27] | Italy | 18 to 34 years | University students | 71 | Chatbot supporting healthy coping | Providing psychoeducational training | Web-based survey; Pre- and post-measurement; 4 weeks with two per week | Perceived Stress (PSS-10), Anxiety (GAD-7), Mindfulness (FFMQ) | Statistically significant reductions in: - Anxiety (t = 0.94, p = .009); - Stress (t = 2.00, p = .05) |
Goodman-Casanova et al. [18] | Spain | > 60 years | Community-dwelling older adults with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia | 93 | Television-based assistive integrated service | Providing remote support through data transmission and video interactivity between users and caregivers | RCT study with control group of receiving treatment as usual | General mental health (Quantitative and open-ended questions) | No significant improvements in mental health |
Li et al. [29] | China | > 18 years | None | 1530 | Internet hospital consultation (via WeChat) | Providing free internet medical consultations | Web-based survey; Pre- and post-measurement | Psychological stress (GHQ-28), Concerns about COVID-19 (Author-generated quantitative questions) | Statistically significant reductions in - Psychological stress (number of participants: χ2  = 1704.80, p < .001); - Degree of concern (t = 90.64, p < .001) |
Loveys et al. [16] | New Zealand | > 18 years | Adults with an underlying medical condition or aged > 70 years with MMSE score > 24 | 24 | Digital human facilitator (conversational agent with artificial intelligence) on website | Providing cognitive behavioral and positive psychology exercises | RCT study mixed design with waitlist control group; Pre- and post-measurement; 15 min per day over 1 week | Loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale); Psychological stress (PSS-4), Worry about contracting COVID-19 (Single item question); Psychological well-being (8-item Flourishing Scale) | No significant improvements in mental health |
Kawakami et al. [24] | Japan | 20–59 years | Adult employees | 902 | COVID-19 Contact Tracing App | Notifying when coming into close contact with a person with positive COVID-19 test | Web-based survey; Pre- and post-measurement | Worry about COVID-19 (single-item scale), Psychological distress (K6 scale) | Statistically significant reduction in psychological distress (associated with downloading app: OR = 0.61, 95%CI = [0.39–0.93], p = .02) |
Pizzoli et al. [31] | Italy | > 18 years | Adults without any impairment of auditory abilities | 240 | Web-based relaxation practices | Offering web-based natural sounds, deep respiration, and body scans | RCT with three experimental conditions: a guided square breathing exercise, a guided body scan exercise, or natural sounds; Pre- and post-measurement; 7 min | Perceived relaxation (VAS), Emotional states (SAM) | Statistically significant improvements (of all three interventions): - Perceived relaxation (p < .001) - Psychomotor activation/stress (p < .001) - Fear related to COVID-19 (p < .001) |
Ruiz-del-Solar et al. [23] | Chile | 15–83 years | Isolated COVID-19 patients | Two hospitals; 986 visits | Telepresence robot | Assisting health-care workers in providing mental and psychological health services | Qualitative field study; 8 weeks | Mental and emotional health problems (Nonparticipatory and participatory observation, field notes, structured interviews and anecdotal records) | Increase of positive emotions (qualitatively) in patients and health-care workers |
Sharrock et al. [30] | Australia | > 18 years | N.A. | 1295 | Internet-based CBT intervention | Providing psychoeducational training through the story of a fictional character | Web-based survey; Pre- and post-measurement | Health anxiety (SHAI), Depression (PHQ-9), Psychological distress (K-10) | Statistically significant reduction in: - Health anxiety (g = 0.89) - Psychological distress (g = 0.91) - Depression symptoms (g = 0.55) |
Shapira et al. [17] | Israel | > 65 years | Community-dwelling older adults with internet access | 82 | Digital group intervention via Zoom | Providing online guided sessions in small groups | A pilot-RCT study with a wait-list control group; Pre- and post-measurement; 7 weeks with twice-weekly | Loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), Depression (PHQ-9) | Statistically significant reduction in: - Loneliness (F(1,78) = 5.59, p = .02) - Depressive symptoms (F(1,78) = 0.57, p = .45) |
Song et al. [20] | China | > 18 years | Adults with depression symptoms (PHQ-9 score: 5–27); Access to smartphone | 129 | Mobile application based on WeChat | Providing self-help storytelling to help users overcome mental health problems related to COVID-19 | RCT with a wait-list control group; Pre- and post-measurement; 1 week with three sessions | Depression (PHQ-9), Anxiety (GAD-7), Insomnia (ISI), Psychological resilience (RISC), Anxiety of COVID-19 (VAS) | Statistically significant reduction in: - Depression (F = 4.30, p = .040) - Insomnia (F = 7.10, p = .009) |
Stuart et al. [32] | Australia | Average age = 23.03 years | N.A. | 473 | Socially motivated Internet use (online social connection) | Providing online social connection | Self-reported survey | Depression (DASS) | Statistically significant reduction in depression (three-way interaction between health anxiety, isolation behaviors, and Internet use for social connection: β = -0.12, p = .009) |
Summers et al. [15] | United Kingdom | 22–70 years | N.A. | 347 | Digital behavior change app | Providing educational and therapeutic behavioral change support | Open-label survey; Pre- and post-measurement; 12 weeks | Anxiety (GAD-7), Depression (PHQ-9), Perceived stress (PSS) | Statistically significant reduction in: - Depression (t(272) = 15.60, p < .001) - Anxiety (t(272) = 15.90, p < .001) - Perceived Stress (t(272) = 22.40, p < .001) |