Mapping digital health intervention components to Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy in cancer care: a scoping review

Background Digital health technologies are increasingly used for symptom management, patient education, and continuity of care among people with cancer. However, the relationship between intervention components and theoretical pathways of self-efficacy has not been systematically mapped. Objective This scoping review aimed to describe the types, functional components, implementation characteristics, and self-efficacy outcome directions of digital health technologies designed to support self-efficacy in adults with cancer, and to map these components to Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy information. Methods This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the JBI methodological guidance and reported according to PRISMA-ScR. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO were searched from inception to January 9, 2026. Studies of digital health interventions for adult patients with cancer that reported self-efficacy outcomes were eligible. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and theory-based coding. Findings were synthesized using descriptive statistics, narrative synthesis, and evidence matrices. Results Twenty-one studies were included. Digital health technologies mainly included mobile applications, online platforms or websites, telehealth-supported care, and wearable devices; some studies integrated artificial intelligence, virtual simulation, text messaging, or other electronic communication tools. Intervention components included health education, self-monitoring, goal setting, task practice, feedback, professional support, peer interaction, reminders, and emotion regulation. Five studies reported significant improvement in overall self-efficacy, three reported improvement in specific dimensions, two reported improvement in high-engagement or subgroup analyses, three showed non-significant positive trends, and eight observed no significant change. In the descriptive comparison, moderate-to-strong mastery-experience coding was observed in all 10 studies reporting statistically significant improvement in overall, domain-specific, or high-engagement/subgroup self-efficacy, compared with 7 of 11 studies not reporting statistically significant improvement. Moderate-to-strong verbal-persuasion coding was observed in 10 of 10 and 6 of 11 studies, respectively. These patterns reflected co-occurrence rather than independent effects. Conclusion Digital health interventions varied substantially in functional components, theoretical operationalization, professional support, engagement, and outcomes. Moderate-to-strong mastery-experience and verbal-persuasion coding was more common among studies reporting statistically significant improvement. Future studies should report intervention components, theoretical pathways, engagement, professional support, and follow-up more consistently.