TY - JOUR
T1 - Scoping Review
T2 - Digital Mental Health Interventions for Children and Adolescents Affected by War
AU - Danese, Andrea
AU - Martsenkovskyi, Dmytro
AU - Remberk, Barbara
AU - Khalil, Monika Youssef
AU - Diggins, Emma
AU - Keiller, Eleanor
AU - Masood, Saba
AU - Awah, Isang
AU - Barbui, Corrado
AU - Beer, Renée
AU - Calam, Rachel
AU - Gagliato, Marcio
AU - Jensen, Tine K.
AU - Kostova, Zlatina
AU - Leckman, James F.
AU - Lewis, Stephanie J.
AU - Lorberg, Boris
AU - Myshakivska, Olha
AU - Pfeiffer, Elisa
AU - Rosner, Rita
AU - Schleider, Jessica L.
AU - Shenderovich, Yulia
AU - Skokauskas, Norbert
AU - Tolan, Patrick H.
AU - Caffo, Ernesto
AU - Sijbrandij, Marit
AU - Ougrin, Dennis
AU - Leventhal, Bennett L.
AU - Weisz, John R.
AU - Global Resources fOr War-affected youth (GROW) Network
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - Objective: More than 200 million children and adolescents live in countries affected by violent conflict, are likely to have complex mental health needs, and struggle to access traditional mental health services. Digital mental health interventions have the potential to overcome some of the barriers in accessing mental health support. We performed a scoping review to map existing digital mental health interventions relevant for children and adolescents affected by war, to examine the strength of the evidence base, and to inform the development of future interventions. Method: Based on a pre-registered strategy, we systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, APA PsychInfo, and Google Scholar from the creation of each database to September 30, 2022, identifying k = 6,843 studies. Our systematic search was complemented by extensive consultation with experts from the GROW Network. Results: The systematic search identified 6 relevant studies: 1 study evaluating digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war, and 5 studies for those affected by disasters. Experts identified 35 interventions of possible relevance. The interventions spanned from universal prevention to specialist-guided treatment. Most interventions directly targeted young people and parents or carers/caregivers and were self-guided. A quarter of the interventions were tested through randomized controlled trials. Because most interventions were not culturally or linguistically adapted to relevant contexts, their implementation potential was unclear. Conclusion: There is very limited evidence for the use of digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war at present. The review provides a framework to inform the development of new interventions. Plain language summary: Digital mental health interventions have the potential to overcome some of the barriers in accessing mental health support for children and adolescents living in war affected regions. In this scoping review, the authors identified 1 study evaluating digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war and 5 for those affected by disasters. In addition, 35 interventions were identified through expert consultation as of possible relevance. The authors found very limited evidence for the use of digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war, and given this provide a framework to inform the development of new interventions. Diversity & Inclusion Statement: We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. Study preregistration information: Digital mental health interventions for children and young people affected by war: a scoping review; https://osf.io/; hrny9.
AB - Objective: More than 200 million children and adolescents live in countries affected by violent conflict, are likely to have complex mental health needs, and struggle to access traditional mental health services. Digital mental health interventions have the potential to overcome some of the barriers in accessing mental health support. We performed a scoping review to map existing digital mental health interventions relevant for children and adolescents affected by war, to examine the strength of the evidence base, and to inform the development of future interventions. Method: Based on a pre-registered strategy, we systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, APA PsychInfo, and Google Scholar from the creation of each database to September 30, 2022, identifying k = 6,843 studies. Our systematic search was complemented by extensive consultation with experts from the GROW Network. Results: The systematic search identified 6 relevant studies: 1 study evaluating digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war, and 5 studies for those affected by disasters. Experts identified 35 interventions of possible relevance. The interventions spanned from universal prevention to specialist-guided treatment. Most interventions directly targeted young people and parents or carers/caregivers and were self-guided. A quarter of the interventions were tested through randomized controlled trials. Because most interventions were not culturally or linguistically adapted to relevant contexts, their implementation potential was unclear. Conclusion: There is very limited evidence for the use of digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war at present. The review provides a framework to inform the development of new interventions. Plain language summary: Digital mental health interventions have the potential to overcome some of the barriers in accessing mental health support for children and adolescents living in war affected regions. In this scoping review, the authors identified 1 study evaluating digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war and 5 for those affected by disasters. In addition, 35 interventions were identified through expert consultation as of possible relevance. The authors found very limited evidence for the use of digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war, and given this provide a framework to inform the development of new interventions. Diversity & Inclusion Statement: We actively worked to promote sex and gender balance in our author group. Study preregistration information: Digital mental health interventions for children and young people affected by war: a scoping review; https://osf.io/; hrny9.
KW - adolescents
KW - children
KW - digital intervention
KW - mental health
KW - war
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195039999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85195039999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.017
DO - 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.02.017
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38735431
AN - SCOPUS:85195039999
SN - 0890-8567
VL - 64
SP - 226
EP - 248
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IS - 2
ER -