Digital interventions for the treatment of depression: A meta-analytic review.

The high global prevalence of depression, together with the recent acceleration of remote care owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted increased interest in the efficacy of digital interventions for the treatment of depression.We provide a summary of the latest evidence base for digital interventions in the treatment of depression based on the largest study sample to date.A systematic literature search identified 83 studies (N = 15,530) that randomly allocated participants to a digital intervention for depression versus an active or inactive control condition.Overall heterogeneity was very high (I 2 = 84%).Using a random-effects multilevel metaregression model, we found a significant medium overall effect size of digital interventions compared with all control conditions (g = .52).Subgroup analyses revealed significant differences between interventions and different control conditions (WLC: g = .70;attention: g = .36;TAU: g = .31),significantly higher effect sizes in interventions that involved human therapeutic guidance (g = .63)compared with self-help interventions (g = .34),and significantly lower effect sizes for effectiveness trials (g = .30)compared with efficacy trials (g = .59).We found no significant difference in outcomes between smartphone-based apps and computer-and Internet-based interventions and no significant difference between human-guided digital interventions and face-to-face psychotherapy for depression, although the number of studies in both comparisons was low.Findings from the current meta-analysis provide evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of digital interventions for the treatment of depression for a variety of populations.However, reported effect sizes may be exaggerated because of publication bias, and compliance with digital interventions outside of highly controlled settings remains a significant challenge. Public Significance StatementThis meta-analysis demonstrates the efficacy of digital interventions in the treatment of depression for a variety of populations.Additionally, it highlights that digital interventions may have a valuable role to play in routine care, most notably when accompanied by human guidance.However, compliance with digital interventions remains a major challenge, with little more than 50% of participants completing the full intervention on average.