JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile health (mHealth) apps stand as one possible means of improving evidence-based mental health interventions for youth. However, a better understanding of youth and provider perspectives is necessary to support widespread implementation.

Objective:

The objective of this research is to explore both youth and provider perspectives on using mobile applications to enhance evidence-based clinical care, with an emphasis on gathering perspectives on behavior tracking apps.

Methods:

Inductive qualitative analysis was conducted on data obtained from semi-structured interviews held with 10 youths who received psychotherapy and 12 providers who conduct therapy with youth ages 13-26. Interviews were independently coded by multiple coders and consensus meetings were held to establish reliability.

Results:

During interviews, youths and providers broadly discussed their perspectives on mobile apps, behavior tracking (with an app or otherwise), and factors that could impact continued use of mobile health apps alongside face-to-face psychotherapy. Participants also suggested potential app features that, if implemented, would help meet the clinical needs of providers and support long-term use among youth.

Conclusions:

Youths and providers explained that the integration of mHealth into psychotherapy has the potential to make treatment, particularly behavior tracking, easy and more accessible. However, both groups had concerns about the increased burden that could be placed on clients and providers.