Digital Interventions for Treating Adolescent Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis on Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: This meta-analysis aimed to explore the effects of digital interventions treating adolescent anxiety and the influencing factors associated with treatment outcomes. Methods: Two researchers conducted a systematic search of randomized controlled studies of digital interventions for treating adolescent anxiety in Pubmed, APA PsycInfo, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data and CQVIP. They screened the articles, extracted the data and reviewed the quality of the articles based on Cochrane 5.1.0.. Meta-analyses were conducted using software Review Manager Version 5.4. Results: This study included 18 randomized controlled trials. In contrast to control groups, digital interventions produced medium post-treatment pooled effect sizes regarding anxiety symptoms (g=0.67, 95% CI 0.40-0.95) and small post-intervention pooled effect sizes regarding depression symptoms (g=0.40, 95% CI 0.19-0.61). Sub-group analyses showed that therapists' guidance, therapy basis, number of sessions, and intervention attrition rates significantly influenced effect sizes. Conclusions: Digital interventions are effective in treating adolescent anxiety and depression. Treatment outcomes were influenced by therapists' guidance, therapy basis, number of sessions, and intervention attrition rates. Future reviews could focus on research on long-term effectiveness and moderating factors for treatment outcomes.