Characteristic of mental health app usage: a cross-sectional survey in the general population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mental health apps (MHA) have gained popularity in recent years. Most freely available apps are of low quality and lack evidence for effectiveness. Yet, download rates indicate high usage. MHA are potentially beneficial for individuals with no/low symptom severity as prevention, or as an option to reach underserviced populations. However, currently very little is known about the characteristics of MHA users in the general population, about the kind of MHA used, or the motivation behind MHA usage.

Methods

We collected survey-data from N = 1,247 individuals from the general population to investigate MHA usage.

Results

Descriptive statistics revealed that 41% had used MHA in the past 12 months; prescription app-use however was low (1.5% of MHA users). Mindfuln

SUBMITTER: Furtjes S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11555976 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature