JMIR Mental Health

Uncertainty surrounds the ethical and legal implications of algorithmic and data-driven technologies in the mental health context, including technologies characterized as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and other forms of automation.

Despite a recent proliferation in web-based and digital resources that are designed to assist users in finding appropriate mental health treatment and supportive services, it can be overwhelming, confusing, and difficult for an individual or family member to access and use an appropriate navigation tool. As digital resources are increasingly sought after, there is an urgent need for a clearer understanding of digital navigation tools in order to help link individuals with the tool that is best suited to their needs.

Empirically driven personalized diagnostic applications and treatment stratification is widely perceived as a major hallmark in psychiatry. However, databased personalized decision making requires standardized data acquisition and data access, which are currently absent in psychiatric clinical routine.

Digital health resources are being increasingly used to support women with substance use concerns. Although empirical research has demonstrated that these resources have promise, the available evidence for their benefit in women requires further investigation. Evidence supports the capacity of interventions that are sex-, gender-, and trauma-informed to improve treatment access and outcomes and to reduce health system challenges and disparities. Indeed, both sex- and gender-specific approaches are critical to improve health and gender equity. Violence and trauma are frequent among those with substance use concerns, but they disproportionately affect those who identify as female or women, further underscoring the need for trauma-informed care as well.

Mental health and alcohol use problems are among the most common causes of disease burden in young Australians, frequently co-occur (comorbidity), and lead to significant lifetime burden. However, comorbidities remain significantly underdetected and undertreated in health settings. Digital mental health tools designed to identify at-risk individuals, encourage help-seeking, or deliver treatment for comorbidity have the potential to address this service gap. However, despite a strong body of evidence that digital mental health programs provide an effective treatment option for a range of mental health and alcohol use problems in young adults, research shows that uptake rates can be low. Thus, it is important to understand the factors that influence treatment satisfaction and quality-of-life outcomes for young adults who access e–mental health interventions for comorbidity.

Barriers to recruiting and retaining people with psychosis and their families in research are well-established, potentially biasing clinical research samples. Digital research tools, such as online platforms, mobile apps, and text messaging, have the potential to address barriers to research by facilitating remote participation. However, there has been limited research on leveraging these technologies to engage people with psychosis and their families in research.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience minority stress, especially when they lack social support. SGM young adults may turn to social media in search of a supportive community; however, social media use can become problematic when it interferes with functioning. Problematic social media use may be associated with experiences of minority stress among SGM young adults.

Electronic mental (e-mental) health offers an opportunity to overcome many challenges such as cost, accessibility, and the stigma associated with mental health, and most people with lived experiences of mental problems are in favor of using applications and websites to manage their mental health problems. However, the use of these new technologies remains weak in the area of mental health and psychiatry.

Anxiety and depression are common among university students, and university counseling centers are under pressure to develop effective, novel, and sustainable interventions that engage and retain students. Group interventions delivered via the internet could be a novel and effective way to promote student mental health.

Initial training is essential for the mental health peer support worker (PSW) role. Training needs to incorporate recent advances in digital peer support and the increase of peer support work roles internationally. There is a lack of evidence on training topics that are important for initial peer support work training and on which training topics can be provided on the internet.

Patients with co-occurring behavioral health and chronic medical conditions frequently overuse inpatient hospital services. This pattern of overuse contributes to inefficient health care spending. These patients require coordinated care to achieve optimal health outcomes. However, the poor exchange of health-related information between various clinicians renders the delivery of coordinated care challenging. Health information exchanges (HIEs) facilitate health-related information sharing and have been shown to be effective in chronic disease management; however, their effectiveness in the delivery of integrated care is less clear. It is prudent to consider new approaches to sharing both general medical and behavioral health information.

Previous studies have shown that suicide reporting in mainstream media has a significant impact on suicidal behaviors (eg, irresponsible suicide reporting can trigger imitative suicide). Traditional mainstream media are increasingly using social media platforms to disseminate information on public-related topics, including health. However, there is little empirical research on how mainstream media portrays suicide on social media platforms and the quality of their coverage.