Citation

Armaou M, Pears M, Konstantinidis ST, Blake H. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024; 21(3): e375.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph21030375

PMID

38541374

Abstract

Research into digital interventions for mental well-being promotion has grown in recent years, fuelled by the need to improve mental health prevention strategies and respond to challenges arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This bibliometric analysis provides a structured overview of publication trends and themes in primary research studies reporting an array of digital interventions indexed at WoS from 2004 to 2023. Bibliometric data were collected on a sample of 1117 documents and analysed using the Biblioshiny package. Supplemental network visualisation analysis was conducted using VosViewer. The study, based on Web of Science and Scopus databases, indicates a marked increase in publications post-2020. There were seven groups of research themes clustered around "Mindfulness", "Anxiety", "COVID-19", "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy", "Depression", "Web-based", and "Positive Psychology". Further, results demonstrated the growth of specific themes (e.g., mindfulness, mhealth), the defining impact of COVID-19 studies, and the importance of both randomised controlled trials and formative research. Overall, research in the field is still early in its development and is expected to continue to grow.

FINDINGS highlight the field's dynamic response to societal and technological changes, suggesting a future trajectory that leans increasingly on digital platforms for mental health promotion and intervention. Finally, study limitations and implications for future studies are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

*Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; *COVID-19/epidemiology; Anxiety; bibliometric analysis; Bibliometrics; digital interventions; Humans; Mental Health; mental health prevention; mental well-being