ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Mental health care has been enriched with the progressive use of technology during the last ten years, in particular after the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobile applications (apps) and smartphones have become the most widespread access point for many people who look for self-help in the psychological domain. OBJECTIVE: We focused on a systematic review of mobile apps for mental health, focusing on the blending of apps with psychotherapy contexts, with a specific focus on emotional dysregulation. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search (January 2017 to August 2022) in PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library was conducted. Abstracts were included if they described mental health mobile apps targeting emotional dysregulation and their use during ongoing psychological or psychotherapy treatment for adults and adolescents. RESULTS: In total, 397 abstracts were identified; of these, 19 publications describing apps targeting borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors, and post-traumatic stress disorders met the inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS: App-enhanced psychotherapy might be a winning combination in many scenarios, but at the same time, many issues must still be faced in this yet emerging scientific field. In conclusion, we tried to put together some major guidelines for mental health mobile app development in the context of psychological treatments.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Mobile Applications , Adult , Adolescent , Humans , Psychosocial Intervention , Pandemics , AnxietyABSTRACT
The experience linked to the COVID-19 emergency constituted a turning point in the biography of most Italians. The suspension of usual activities, the redefinition of life contexts and the restriction of relationships have opened up wide spaces and time for thinking and reflecting on oneself, which may have triggered processes of redefinition of personal identity. The general aim of this study was to explore the impact of pandemic on daily life in the life span, in order to support the hypothesis that the pandemic experience could be considered a disequilibrating life-event and a turning point in the biography of most Italians. A mixed research approach was adopted, with 14 closed and open questions created ad hoc. 41 participants (87% women, average age 40.71), resident in the Campania region, in southern Italy, responded to the online written interview. The data were analyzed by two independent coders, using categorical content analysis with a top-down approach. Membership of the different age groups (young adults, adults, elderly) was assessed as a comparison variable. Findings qualify pandemic-related experiences as a disequilibrating life event, potentially capable of activating, alongside emotionally dense experiences, adaptive and functional resources for identity reconsideration, with differences being age based. The dimensions of change, the affective dimensions, the resources and the areas of risk identified, allowed us to identify three different clusters, showing a differentiation according to age groups, which identifies young adults and the elderly as the subjects most at risk.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Young Adult , Female , Humans , Aged , Adult , Male , COVID-19/epidemiology , Pandemics , Italy/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The study focuses on identifying the impacts of the COVID experience on young people and exploring whether, during the pandemic period, adolescents and young adults resorted to flexible and creative coping strategies, which may have served as resources. The participants consisted of 70 Italian freshmen (18 males and 52 females) aged 18 to 21, attending their first year of university. Adopting a narrative approach, we identified seven creativity functions and two interpretative factors, supporting the idea that creativity may have constituted a psychological resource for young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the findings suggest that creativity can be configured as an identity attractor. Implications and future research directions are discussed.