Engaging Children and Young People in Digital Mental Health Interventions: Systematic Review of Modes of Delivery

🔍💡 Youth mental health and digital tools: this systematic review maps the main intervention formats and what promotes (or hinders) adolescents’ engagement. 📱🧠 #YouthMentalHealth #DigitalInterventions
💻🎮 From websites and serious games to apps and virtual reality, the article identifies 6 delivery modes and offers a framework to design tools better aligned with young people’s everyday lives. #Prevention #HealthPromotion

Source :   Engaging Children and Young People in Digital Mental Health Interventions: Systematic Review of Modes of Delivery   

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1. Analytical summary

Context and challenges: a dense digital offer, yet poorly understood uses

This article is a systematic review of 83 studies describing 71 digital mental health interventions for children and young people aged 2 to 24, published between 2001 and 2018. It sits in a context of high prevalence of anxiety, depressive and behavioral disorders in young people (around 10–20% according to the cited data) and substantial barriers to seeking care (stigma, cost, accessibility). The authors describe rapid growth in digital health interventions (websites, games, apps, virtual reality, robots, SMS), supported by organizations such as WHO and the NHS, but note wide heterogeneity in tools and evaluation methods. They address three questions: which delivery modes are used, what are the barriers and facilitators to engagement, and what retention rates are reported in the studies.

Operational contributions: typology, engagement factors and design levers

The review identifies six main delivery modes: websites, games / computer-assisted programs, web or mobile apps, robots and digital devices, virtual reality experiences, and SMS-based interventions. It proposes an analytical framework for youth engagement, combining intervention-specific factors (suitability to daily life, usability, acceptability) and person-specific factors (motivation, capability, opportunities for social connection and trust). The results show high average retention (≈79%), higher than what is often reported in face-to-face care, with especially favorable rates for games and computer-assisted programs (≈87%). The article provides concrete pointers for designing more engaging tools: reduced text, personalization, video, interactivity, anonymity, feeling connected to peers and to credible professionals
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2. Key points of the document

The six identified delivery modes (websites, games/programs, apps, robots/devices, virtual reality, SMS) cover the full support pathway in mental health: prevention, psychoeducation, treatment, follow-up and between-session support (pp. 5–7, 10).
Most interventions are based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or skills training (cognitive, social), often adapted from face-to-face programs, and largely focus on anxiety and depressive disorders (pp. 2–3, 5–6).

The authors develop a conceptual engagement framework that distinguishes two dimensions: intervention-specific influences (suitability, usability, acceptability) and person-specific influences (motivation, capability, opportunity), drawing on the COM-B model and digital behavior change frameworks (pp. 8–9).

Young people express clear preferences for tools that are mobile-accessible, low in text, customizable, that integrate videos, gamified elements, SMS reminders and options to connect with others or with a professional, while ensuring anonymity and data security (pp. 8–10).

Retention rates are globally high: 79% on average across 67 studies reporting such data, with 56 studies at 70% retention or more; games and computer-assisted programs reach 86.95% on average, ahead of websites (78.87%) and apps (78.45%) (pp. 6–7, 9–10, Appendix 4).

3. Actionable recommendations for local actors

Integrate digital tools that fit young people’s real-life use (smartphones, short time spans, mobility), prioritizing playful, interactive formats inspired by the identified modes (games, web micro‑modules, supportive SMS) rather than long text-based “PDF brochure” content (pp. 6–8, 10).

Co-design interventions with young people (focus groups, user testing) to refine wording, text volume, aesthetics, personalization and reward systems, using the “suitability” and “usability” dimensions from the proposed framework (pp. 8–9, Appendix 5).

Address trust and safety explicitly: link tools to recognized institutions, be transparent about data management, offer anonymous and moderated spaces, and clearly display clinical evidence or expert validation of the tool (pp. 8–10).

Use digital interventions as complements to face-to-face care (homework, self-monitoring, reminders, between-session support) to strengthen engagement in existing care pathways, rather than as standalone substitutes, especially for young people with comorbidities or acute crises (pp. 2–3, 10–11).

Implement structured monitoring of use and retention (logins, modules completed, qualitative feedback) to iteratively adapt tools, drawing on the methodological recommendations from the review (engagement tracking, retention rate calculation, attention to dropout factors) (pp. 4–7, 11)