Digital mental health interventions in Chinese: a scoping review

Abstract

Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) are playing an increasingly important role in supporting mental healthcare. Despite their widespread adoption during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lack of review focused on DMHIs available in Chinese. This scoping review aims to enhance understanding of the landscape of DMHIs by examining the available evidence, assessing accessibility, and identifying gaps in both the research and implementation within the Greater China region. Searches across four English and four Chinese databases yielded 28 individual interventions reported across 32 trials in 31 publications. The majority of these interventions were mobile-based and trialed in economically developed regions. While most DMHIs showed significant improvements in reducing mental health symptoms, concerns persist regarding limited public access, high heterogeneity in study quality, and the lack of population-based early interventions. Future research is needed to address these issues within Chinese communities and the mental healthcare system.