{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T07:52:04Z","timestamp":1790841124835,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":104,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]],"date-time":"2022-02-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644883200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities","award":["(PI21\/00234)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(PI21\/00234)"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: The main objective of this work was to explore and characterize the current landscape of mobile applications available to treat mood disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia. Methods: We developed a tool that makes both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store searchable using keywords and that facilitates the extraction of basic app information of the search results. All app results were filtered using various inclusion and exclusion criteria. We characterized all resultant applications according to their technical details. Furthermore, we searched for scientific publications on each app\u2019s website and PubMed, to understand whether any of the apps were supported by any type of scientific evidence on their acceptability, validation, use, effectiveness, etc. Results: Thirty apps were identified that fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The literature search yielded 27 publications related to the apps. However, these did not exclusively concern mood disorders. 6 were randomized studies and the rest included a protocol, pilot-, feasibility, case-, or qualitative studies, among others. The majority of studies were conducted on relatively small scales and 9 of the 27 studies did not explicitly study the effects of mobile application use on mental wellbeing. Conclusion: While there exists a wealth of mobile applications aimed at the treatment of mental health disorders, including mood disorders, this study showed that only a handful of these are backed by robust scientific evidence. This result uncovers a need for further clinically oriented and systematic validation and testing of such apps.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19042186","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]],"date-time":"2022-02-15T22:43:22Z","timestamp":1644965002000},"page":"2186","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":44,"title":["Mobile Applications in Mood Disorders and Mental Health: Systematic Search in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and Review of the Literature"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4032-2974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophie","family":"Eis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Fundaci\u00f3 HiTT (Health Innovation Technology Transfer), 08015 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oriol","family":"Sol\u00e0-Morales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fundaci\u00f3 HiTT (Health Innovation Technology Transfer), 08015 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1171-9945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Duarte-D\u00edaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Canary Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (FIISC), 38109 Tenerife, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3527-4242","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Josep","family":"Vidal-Alaball","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Ger\u00e8ncia Territorial de la Catalunya Central, Institut Catal\u00e0 de la Salut, 08272 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundaci\u00f3 Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l\u2019Atenci\u00f3 Prim\u00e0ria de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08007 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVIC-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6113-7313","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lilisbeth","family":"Perestelo-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Evaluation Unit of the Canary Islands Health Service (SESCS), REDISSEC, 38109 Tenerife, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0740-9098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Noem\u00ed","family":"Robles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"eHealth Lab Research Group, School of Health Sciences and eHealth Centre, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), 08035 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1479-7551","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carme","family":"Carrion","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"eHealth Lab Research Group, School of Health Sciences and eHealth Centre, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), 08035 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Ditrendia (2019). 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