Can the effectiveness of an online stress management program be augmented by wearable sensor technology?

Artificial intelligence significantly facilitates development in the mental health of college students: a bibliometric analysis

Objective

College students are currently grappling with severe mental health challenges, and research on artificial intelligence (AI) related to college students mental health, as a crucial catalyst for promoting psychological well-being, is rapidly advancing. Employing bibliometric methods, this study aim to analyze and discuss the research on AI in college student mental health.

Methods

Publications pertaining to AI and college student mental health were retrieved from the Web of Science core database. The distribution of publications were analyzed to gage the predominant productivity. Data on countries, authors, journal, and keywords were analyzed using VOSViewer, exploring collaboration patterns, disciplinary composition, research hotspots and trends.

Results

Spanning 2003 to 2023, the study encompassed 1722 publications, revealing notable insights: (1) a gradual rise in annual publications, reaching its zenith in 2022; (2) Journal of Affective Disorders and Psychiatry Research emerged were the most productive and influential sources in this field, with significant contributions from China, the United States, and their affiliated higher education institutions; (3) the primary mental health issues were depression and anxiety, with machine learning and AI having the widest range of applications; (4) an imperative for enhanced international and interdisciplinary collaboration; (5) research hotspots exploring factors influencing college student mental health and AI applications.

Conclusion

This study provides a succinct yet comprehensive overview of this field, facilitating a nuanced understanding of prospective applications of AI in college student mental health. Professionals can leverage this research to discern the advantages, risks, and potential impacts of AI in this critical field.

Wearables for Stress Management: A Scoping Review

In recent years, wearable devices have been increasingly used to monitor people's health. This has helped healthcare professionals provide timely interventions to support their patients. In this study, we investigated how wearables help people manage stress. We conducted a scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) standard to address this question. We searched studies in Scopus, IEEE Explore, and Pubmed databases. We included studies reporting user evaluations of wearable-based strategies, reporting their impact on health or usability outcomes. A total of 6259 studies were identified, of which 40 met the inclusion criteria. Based on our findings, we identified that 21 studies report using commercial wearable devices; the most common are smartwatches and smart bands. Thirty-one studies report significant stress reduction using different interventions and interaction modalities. Finally, we identified that the interventions are designed with the following aims: (1) to self-regulate during stress episodes, (2) to support self-regulation therapies for long-term goals, and (3) to provide stress awareness for prevention, consisting of people's ability to recall, recognize and understand their stress.

The Use of Sensors to Detect Anxiety for In-the-Moment Intervention: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

With anxiety a growing issue and barriers to accessing support services, there is a need for innovative solutions to provide early intervention. In-the-moment interventions support individuals to recognize early signs of distress and use coping mechanisms to prevent or manage this distress. There is potential for wearable sensors linked to an individual's mobile phone to provide in-the-moment support tailored to individual needs and physiological responses.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this scoping review is to examine the role of sensors in detecting the physiological signs of anxiety to initiate and direct interventions for its management.

METHODS

Relevant studies were identified through searches conducted in Embase, MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, ProQuest, and Scopus. Studies were identified if they were conducted with people with stress or anxiety or at risk of anxiety and included a wearable sensor providing real-time data for in-the-moment management of anxiety.

RESULTS

Of the 1087 studies identified, 11 studies were included in the review, including 5 randomized controlled trials and 6 pilot or pretesting studies. The results showed that most studies successfully demonstrated improvements in their target variables. This included overall anxiety and stress levels, and the implementation of in-the-moment stress and anxiety management techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing. There was wide variation in the types of sensors used, physiological measures, and sensor-linked interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

This review indicates that sensors are potentially a useful tool in detecting anxiety and facilitating the implementation of a known control mechanism to reduce anxiety and improve mood, but further work is needed to understand the acceptability and effectiveness of this type of intervention.

Self-Management of Subclinical Common Mental Health Disorders (Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Disorders) Using Wearable Devices

RATIONALE

Common mental health disorders (CMD) (anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders) are among the leading causes of disease burden globally. The economic burden associated with such disorders is estimated at $2.4 trillion as of 2010 and is expected to reach $16 trillion by 2030. The UK has observed a 21-fold increase in the economic burden associated with CMD over the past decade. The recent COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for adopting technologies for mental health support and services, thereby increasing the reception of personal health data and wearables. Wearables hold considerable promise to empower users concerning the management of subclinical common mental health disorders. However, there are significant challenges to adopting wearables as a tool for the self-management of the symptoms of common mental health disorders.

AIMS

This review aims to evaluate the potential utility of wearables for the self-management of sub-clinical anxiety and depressive mental health disorders. Furthermore, we seek to understand the potential of wearables to reduce the burden on the healthcare system.

METHODOLOGY

a systematic review of research papers was conducted, focusing on wearable devices for the self-management of CMD released between 2018-2022, focusing primarily on mental health management using technology.

RESULTS

We screened 445 papers and analysed the reports from 12 wearable devices concerning their device type, year, biometrics used, and machine learning algorithm deployed. Electrodermal activity (EDA/GSR/SC/Skin Temperature), physical activity, and heart rate (HR) are the most common biometrics with nine, six and six reference counts, respectively. Additionally, while smartwatches have greater penetration and integration within the marketplace, fitness trackers have the most significant public value benefit of £513.9 M, likely due to greater retention.

Enhancing smart healthcare in dentistry: an approach to managing patients' stress

This paper presents a model of a smart healthcare service for stress management in dental patients during the interventions. The main goal is to provide dental clinics with a model that enables introducing a stress management service into everyday practice and provides patients with a better experience in a typically stressful situation. The approach is based on employing wearable sensors for monitoring physiological parameters, and a mobile application for progressive muscle relaxation therapy. Dental patients were divided into experimental and control groups. Participants from the experimental group were treated with progressive muscle relaxation through mobile health application with audio content, and patients from the control group were not exposed to any relaxation method. Heart rate was measured in both groups through three test phases: pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention. Evaluation of the anxiety level was performed using the STAI test. Results show that the measured heart rate in the post-intervention phase is lower than in the intervention phase in both testing groups, as well as in the pre-intervention phase. STAI scores were significantly higher in the control group through all test phases. The research found that the proposed system applied to dentist patients may relieve their anxiety symptoms and decrease stress level, which improves the patients' experience and leads to higher patients' satisfaction.

Smart wearable devices as a psychological intervention for healthy lifestyle and quality of life: a randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE

Creating a healthy lifestyle is important across different life stages. Commercial smart wearable devices are an innovative and interesting approach as an early psychological intervention for modifying health-related behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effects of smart wearable devices on health-promoting lifestyles and quality of life.

METHODS

The study design was a three-parallel randomized controlled trial with a 3-month intervention. Two commercial smart wearable devices (smartwatches and smart bracelets) with different levels of complicated functions were applied as a psychological intervention in comparison with a smartphone app as the control group. Participants were healthy young adults with a median age of 26 years. Outcome measurements were conducted by self-administered questionnaires. Chi-square tests and ANOVA were performed for testing the difference of participants at baseline, and generalized estimating equations were performed for testing the effect of the intervention.

RESULTS

At the beginning, 81 participants were recruited and 73 participants completed the study. Results of a healthy lifestyle demonstrated significant group effects of exercise and a significant effect of the interaction for self-actualization and stress management in the experimental group with a smartwatch (Self-actualization: MD = 0.35[- 0.10,0.80]; Exercise: MD = 0.21[- 0.33 0.75]; Stress management: MD = 0.36[- 0.04,0.76]) by comparing with only using mobile app (Self-actualization: MD =  - 0.03[- 0.25,0.18]; Exercise: MD =  - 0.12[- 0.38,0.14]; Stress management, MD =  - 0.28[- 0.55,0.00]). The significant effect of group-by-time interaction for self-actualization was found in the experimental group with a smart bracelet (MD = 0.05[- 0.30,0.20]) by comparing with the control group. The GEE-adjusted model indicated significant effects of the interaction on the comprehensive, physical, and mental quality of life in the experimental group with the smartwatch (Comprehensive: MD = 0.24[- 0.04,0.52]; Physical: MD = 0.67[0.26,1.09]; Mental: MD = 0.72[0.29,1.16]) by comparing with the control group (Comprehensive: MD =  - 1.57[- 2.55, - 0.59]; Physical: MD = 0.25[0.00,0.50]; Mental: MD = 0.08[- 0.11,0.27]).

CONCLUSION

From a psychological perspective, smart wearable devices have potential benefits of shaping a healthy lifestyle and improving the quality of life. Enhancing the utility of commercial well-designed smart wearable devices is an innovative and effective strategy for promoting public health.

Is the future of leadership development wearable? Exploring self-tracking in leadership programs

This practice forum explores how the “quantified self movement” can contribute to developing leaders by offering new approaches to assessment and feedback. Often associated with wearable technologies (digital technologies worn on the body), self-tracking sensors and feedback systems help individuals assess how they interface with the world, automatically capturing and monitoring data for learning, growth, and change. The authors make the case that such tools can create ongoing opportunities for learning intrapersonal qualities relevant to leadership. In particular, they offer insights about using self-tracking to manage responses to stress and fatigue and for the delivery of verbal presentations. The exploration also notes concerns about the use of technological devices for development purposes. The authors conclude by offering a summary of six factors to consider before using self-tracking tools for leadership development, and by identifying four aspects of self-tracking approaches that would benefit from more I-O psychologist involvement.