Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized Controlled Trial

Kathleen Kara Fitzpatrick, Alison Darcy, Molly Vierhile

JMIR Mental Health • Summary & key facts • 2017 • 2,318 citations

This small randomized trial tested a fully automated text-based conversational agent called Woebot as a way to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy to college-age young adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Over 2 weeks, the Woebot group (n=34) showed a statistically larger drop in depression scores (PHQ-9) than an information-only…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Mental Health Research Topics

Making health habitual: the psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice

Benjamin Gardner, Phillippa Lally, Jane Wardle

British Journal of General Practice • Summary & key facts • 2012 • 550 citations

This paper explains how habits form and how doctors might use habit-based advice in routine care. It says repeating a simple action in the same context can make that action automatic, so it needs less attention and may last after motivation falls. The authors report studies (for example, an average…

Behavioral Health and Interventions Health Policy Implementation Science Mental Health and Psychiatry

Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review

Fazida Karim, Azeezat Abimbola Oyewande, Lamis F Abdalla, Reem Chaudhry Ehsanullah, Safeera Khan

Cureus • Summary & key facts • 2020 • 367 citations

This systematic review looked at research on social media and mental health. The authors state that social media are responsible for making mental health problems worse. They searched 50 papers and, after applying selection rules, included 16 studies. The final papers were checked for quality and included a mix of…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Social Media in Health Education

Review of Smartphone Applications for the Treatment of Eating Disorders

Adrienne S. Juarascio, Stephanie M. Manasse, Stephanie P. Goldstein, Evan M. Forman, Meghan L. Butryn

European Eating Disorders Review • Summary & key facts • 2014 • 148 citations

This review looked at smartphone apps made for treating eating disorders. The authors found that research on whether these apps work is scarce. They also found that most existing apps include few proven treatment methods and do not use the special abilities of smartphones (like real-time interaction and sensors). The…

Eating Disorders and Behaviors Impact of Technology on Adolescents Mobile Health and mHealth Applications

Developing Self-Awareness: Learning Processes for Self- and Interpersonal Growth

Manuel London, Valerie I. Sessa, Loren A. Shelley

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior • Summary & key facts • 2022 • 125 citations

This open-access review article (Jan 2023) looks at what self-awareness is, how it develops, and how researchers measure it. The authors summarize evidence on both benefits and costs (including the downsides of too much inward focus), offer a framework that links learning processes, and report a literature search showing educational…

Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports

Efficacy of digital cognitive behavioral therapy for moderate‐to‐severe symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Jenna R. Carl, Christopher B. Miller, Alasdair L. Henry, Michelle L. Davis, Richard Stott, Jasper A. J. Smits, et al.

Depression and Anxiety • Summary & key facts • 2020 • 80 citations

Digital CBT (Daylight) appears to be safe and efficacious for symptoms of anxiety, worry, and further measures of mental health compared with waitlist control in individuals with GAD.

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Digital Mental Health Interventions Mental Health Research Topics

Anxiety and Performance in Sex, Sport, and Stage: Identifying Common Ground

David L. Rowland, Jacques van Lankveld

Frontiers in Psychology • Summary & key facts • 2019 • 75 citations

Anxiety has long been linked to worse performance in evaluative social settings such as sex, sport, and stage. This paper asks three main questions: how each field understands anxiety and performance, what they can learn from one another, and how they could share useful ideas. The authors review existing models…

Behavioral Health and Interventions Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports Sport Psychology and Performance

Narrative meaning making and integration: Toward a better understanding of the way falling ill influences quality of life

Iris D. Hartog, Michael Scherer‐Rath, Renske Kruizinga, Justine E. Netjes, José P.S. Henriques, Pythia T. Nieuwkerk, et al.

Journal of Health Psychology • Summary & key facts • 2017 • 68 citations

This article offers a new humanities-based theory about how falling seriously ill can affect a person’s quality of life. The authors combine ideas about contingency (the feeling that life could have been different), narrative identity (how people make life stories), and quality of life to explain how people make meaning…

Identity, Memory, and Therapy Optimism, Hope, and Well-being Resilience and Mental Health

Personality and Occupational Behavior: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Correlates of Managerial Practices in Two Cultures

Adrian Furnham, Paul Stringfield

Human Relations • Summary & key facts • 1993 • 65 citations

Researchers compared an MBTI-style test and a Big Five test in studies of U.S. adults and found the Big Five predicted 37 measured life outcomes about twice as well as the MBTI-style test. The MBTI-style test did better than astrology but worse than the Big Five. The MBTI-style test often…

Emotional Intelligence and Performance Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior Personality Traits and Psychology

Effectiveness of Digital Mental Health Tools to Reduce Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Jiyeong Kim, Lois Maame Donkor Aryee, Heejung Bang, Steffi Prajogo, Yong Kyung Choi, Jeffrey S. Hoch, et al.

JMIR Mental Health • Summary & key facts • 2023 • 63 citations

The researchers did a large, careful search for studies of digital mental health tools (things like websites, phone apps, text messages, or online therapy) aimed at reducing depression and anxiety in low- and middle-income countries. They only kept randomized controlled trials, which are studies where people are randomly put into…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Impact of Technology on Adolescents Mental Health Research Topics

Exploring the Ethical Challenges of Conversational AI in Mental Health Care: Scoping Review

Mehrdad Rahsepar Meadi, Tomas Sillekens, Suzanne Metselaar, Anton J.L.M. van Balkom, Justin Bernstein, Neeltje M. Batelaan

JMIR Mental Health • Summary & key facts • 2025 • 59 citations

This scoping review looks at the ethical issues raised by conversational AI (CAI) in mental health care. It finds that AI tools are already in use or development, but there is little specific ethical discussion or formal codes of practice. The review shows some topics are underexplored and that the…

Digital Mental Health Interventions Mental Health via Writing Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments

The Enneagram: A systematic review of the literature and directions for future research

Joshua N. Hook, Todd W. Hall, Don E. Davis, Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Mackenzie Conner

Journal of Clinical Psychology • Summary & key facts • 2020 • 51 citations

The authors reviewed 104 independent samples of research on the Enneagram. They found mixed evidence about whether Enneagram measures are reliable and valid. Some studies fit parts of Enneagram theory and linked Enneagram subscales to Big Five personality traits, and some people reported the Enneagram helped with personal or spiritual…

Ego Development and Educational Practices Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function Pain Management and Placebo Effect