We are delighted to announce the release of the CAMH 2023 Special Issue on ‘Technology and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents: Pros and Cons’, edited by Lina Gega, Jennifer Martin, Kapil Sayal, and Hiran Thabrew.
With international contributions from around the world, this special issue, as Lina Gega and Hiran Thabrew state in their editorial, ‘offers insights and evidence about the technology’s ability to act as a force of good and a source of harm for young people’s mental health’.
Whilst use of technology amongst children and young people is increasing annually, with benefits including social connection, support, entertainment, and improved health literacy (Gega & Thabrew), there is an ongoing concern about the potential for technology-related harm and the impact of the digital divide accentuating already existing social inequalities.
This CAMH Special Issue Series aims to:
- Examine the evidence
- Explore the role of technology in child and adolescent mental health
- Engage with how to move forward
We hope that you can access our Open Access papers and accompanying resources, and do please share with colleagues to better understand the complex relationship between technology and mental health.
Open Access Papers
Editorial
- Editorial: ‘Control alt delete – technology and children’s mental health’, (January 2023), Hiran Thabrew, Lina Gega
- NEW Podcast with Hiran Thabrew and Lina Gega
Review Articles
- Review: ‘Digital experiences and their impact on the lives of adolescents with pre-existing anxiety, depression, eating and nonsuicidal self-injury conditions – a systematic review’, (December 2022), Katarzyna Kostyrka-Allchorne, Mariya Stoilova, Jake Bourgaize, Miriam Rahali, Sonia Livingstone, Edmund Sonuga-Barke
- Review: ‘Can digital mental health interventions bridge the ‘digital divide’ for socioeconomically and digitally marginalised youth? A systematic review’, (December 2022), Rowena Piers, Joanne M. Williams, Helen Sharpe
Original Articles
- Original: ‘Young people’s online communication and its association with mental well-being: results from the 2019 student health and well-being survey’, (November 2022), Rebecca Anthony, Honor Young, Gillian Hewitt, Luke Sloan, Graham Moore, Simon Murphy, Steven Cook
- NEW Video Abstract with Rebecca Anthony
- Original: ‘Preventing anxiety in the children of anxious parents – feasibility of a brief, online, group intervention for parents of one- to three-year-olds’, (August 2022), Emily Palmer, Matt Woolgar, Ben Carter, Sam Cartwright-Hatton, Fiona L. Challacombe
- Original: ‘Adolescent sleep, distress, and technology use: weekday versus weekend’, (December 2022), Alexander Reardon, Kurt Lushington, Alex Agostini
- Original: ‘Development of a chatbot for depression: adolescent perceptions and recommendations’, (December 2022), Gilly Dosovitsky, Eduardo Bunge
- Original: ‘Assessing the feasibility of a web-based outcome measurement system in child and adolescent mental health services – myHealthE a randomised controlled feasibility pilot study’, (June 2022), Anna C. Morris, Zina Ibrahim, Margaret Heslin, Omer S. Moghraby, Argyris Stringaris, Ian M. Grant, Lukasz Zalewski, Megan Pritchard, Robert Stewart, Matthew Hotopf, Andrew Pickles, Richard J. B. Dobson, Emily Simonoff, Johnny Downs
Technology Matters
- Technology Matters: ‘Increasing access to evidence-based treatment for child anxiety problems: online parent-led CBT for children identified via schools’, (December 2022), Iheoma Green, Tessa Reardon, Roberta Button, Victoria Williamson, Gemma Halliday, Claire Hill, Michael Larkin, Falko F. Sniehotta, Obioha C. Ukoumunne, Tamsin Ford, Susan H. Spence, Paul Stallard, Cathy Creswell
Editorial Perspectives
- Editorial Perspective: ‘The digital divide – inequalities in remote therapy for children and adolescents’, (February 2022), Georgina M. Aisbitt, Tobias Nolte, Peter Fonagy
Debate Articles
- Debate: ‘Games-based collaboration as a driver for massive-scale mental health research’, (December 2022), Anders Drachen
- Debate: ‘Should academics collaborate with digital companies to improve young people’s mental health?’, (December 2022), Sonia Livingstone, Amy Orben, Candice Odgers
- Debate: ‘We need data infrastructure as well as data sharing – conflicts of interest in video game research’, (December 2022), David Zendle, Heather Wardle
ACAMH members can read the full Special Issue via
