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A Scoping Review of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions for Mental Health : Design, Frameworks, and Reporting Completeness
Tangemann, H.F. (2025) A Scoping Review of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions for Mental Health : Design, Frameworks, and Reporting Completeness.
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| Abstract: | Background: Mental disorders are a major global health burden. Although the use of digital mental health interventions increases, they often lack personalization. Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) offer a promising approach by delivering real-time, context-sensitive support. While the field of JITAIs is growing, little is known about how well mental health JITAIs are grounded in theory and whether they are reported with sufficient detail for replication. Theoretical frameworks can help identify key factors that drive change, such as motivation and self-monitoring, and improve the use of behaviour change techniques. This scoping review provides an overview of the study and sample characteristics, theoretical foundations, and reporting completeness of JITAIs targeting mental health outcomes. Method: A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and PsychINFO was conducted on January 27th, 2025. Studies were included if they employed a quantitative empirical design, focused on mental health outcomes in either clinical or non-clinical populations, and used a technology-delivered intervention tailored to users’ internal state and/or context. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize the findings, and the completeness of reporting was assessed using a 12-item checklist. Results: Eleven studies with a total of 1114 participants were included. Most interventions targeted depression, schizophrenia, PTSD, or bipolar disorder, and were delivered via mobile application. Nine of the studies reported using a theoretical framework, most commonly behavioural theories, or computational models (data-driven algorithms that simulate mental health processes). However, links to key JITAI design elements such as tailoring variables often remained unclear. Reporting completeness, meaning how thoroughly the authors described information necessary for replication, was generally high (> 90%), although gaps remained in data security. Discussion: JITAIs show promising potential for supporting mental health by offering timely, personalized, and context-sensitive interventions. Even though most included studies reported use of theoretical frameworks, the application to specific JITAI design components was often insufficiently described. This limits transparency and makes it challenging to understand how and why interventions work. Although overall reporting quality was high, future research should provide clearer descriptions of theory use across design components to improve understanding of how and why interventions work and to further strengthen replicability. Keywords: just-in-time adaptive interventions, JITAI, mental health outcomes |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107938 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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