Effective trialing of digital interventions in daily life – the mental health perspective
Abstract Digital mental health interventions show promise but have yet to meet expectations. We discuss gaps between promising results of pilot studies and null findings in randomized controlled trials, focusing on two major approaches: just-in-time relapse prevention and just-in-time adaptive interventions. We propose that relapse prevention will profit from long-term studies capturing emerging episodes, and we suggest a novel framework for adaptive interventions including causality testing to proceed towards effective trialing.
Authors
- Markus Reichert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3290-0962)
- Ulrich Ebner‐Priemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2769-5944)
- Lorenz Deserno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7392-5280)
Institutions
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- University of Salzburg (AT)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Central Institute of Mental Health (DE)
- Universitätsklinikum Würzburg (DE)
- Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim (DE)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Digital Medicine
- Published
- 2026-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-03414-7
- Primary Topic
- Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung