Youth-specific digital mental health interventions (DMHI) represent an emerging field of study, and aim to increase access, improve socioemotional outcomes, and, where required, support triage to targeted interventions. However, prior reviews have reported inconsistent findings on the clinical effectiveness of such interventions in young adults (12–25 years). Further, shortfalls remain for the impact of guided interventions based on the mode of delivery and the type of human support personnel (e.g., professional or peer) guiding the intervention. In response, this systematic review, co-designed with Australia’s leading mental health organization, aims to assess the effectiveness of guided digital programs in improving youth socioemotional outcomes. Included studies involve young people experiencing mental ill-health, receiving brief (i.e., 1–12 sessions), digitally delivered (at least partially) psychological interventions that were guided or partially guided, tested in a type of experimental study, with a socioemotional outcome. Specific socioemotional outcomes examined were depression, anxiety, stress, wellbeing, mindfulness, and quality of life. A systematic search of the contemporary published and grey literature identified 22,482 records with 32 relevant records published between 2018 and 2023. A narrative synthesis guided integration of findings. Results demonstrated strong evidence for the effectiveness of guided interventions on socioemotional outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) yet these effects were short-lived. When factoring in the use of different control groups (i.e., active vs. inactive), inconsistent effects were observed for the socioemotional outcomes of depression, anxiety, and stress. The mode of delivery (i.e., asynchronous, synchronous, combined) and the type of human support personnel did not appear to impact socioemotional outcomes. Results indicate efficacious brief digital interventions for depression and anxiety include refresher/follow-up content, goal setting content, and relapse prevention content. In contrast, poor efficacy is associated with interventions that include homework tasks, self-monitoring, and log-keeping content.

PROSPERO, ID CRD42023405812.

针对青少年的数字心理健康干预措施 (DMHI) 代表了一个新兴的研究领域，旨在增加获取机会、改善社会情感结果，并在需要时支持有针对性的干预措施的分类。然而，先前的评论报告了此类干预措施对年轻人（12-25 岁）的临床有效性的不一致结果。此外，基于交付模式和指导干预的人类支持人员（例如专业人员或同行）类型的指导干预的影响仍然存在不足。为此，与澳大利亚领先的心理健康组织共同设计的这项系统评价旨在评估引导式数字项目在改善青少年社会情感结果方面的有效性。纳入的研究涉及患有精神疾病的年轻人，他们接受简短（即 1-12 次治疗）、以数字方式提供（至少部分）的心理干预措施，这些干预措施是指导或部分指导的，在一种实验研究中进行测试，并产生社会情感结果。检查的具体社会情绪结果包括抑郁、焦虑、压力、幸福感、正念和生活质量。对当代已出版文献和灰色文献的系统检索确定了 22,482 条记录，其中有 32 条相关记录在 2018 年至 2023 年间出版。叙事综合指导了调查结果的整合。结果有力地证明了引导干预对社会情绪结果（即抑郁、焦虑、压力）的有效性，但这些影响是短暂的。当考虑到不同对照组（即活跃组与不活跃组）的使用时，观察到抑郁、焦虑和压力的社会情绪结果不一致。交付方式（即、异步、同步、组合）和人类支持人员的类型似乎不会影响社会情感结果。结果表明，针对抑郁和焦虑的有效简短数字干预措施包括复习/后续内容、目标设定内容和预防复发内容。相比之下，效果不佳与包括家庭作业、自我监控和记录内容在内的干预措施有关。

普洛斯彼罗，ID CRD42023405812。