Building evidence on digital psychotherapies for adults living with depression: a systematic scoping review of populations, interventions and design features of ongoing and planned randomised controlled trials

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Digital psychotherapies may provide scalable treatment options for depression, but many RCTs are at moderate to high risk of bias.
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Among 681 RCTs reviewed, 51.8% were completed, 34.1% published results, and 78.1% were prospectively registered.
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Cognitive-behavioral therapy was the most common digital psychotherapy, accounting for 64.6% of the trials.
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61.5% of trials relied on self-reported symptoms for inclusion, while 61.8% excluded participants with suicidal ideation.
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Future research should enhance transparency, prioritize underserved populations, and diversify the types of digital psychotherapies evaluated.

Bmj Mental Health

by Etienne Karl Duranté, Christopher James Veal, Blandine Thibout, Victoire Maçon-Dauxerre, Philippe Ravaud, Astrid Chevance
June 23, 2026

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