Smart designs for smart technologies: Research challenges and emerging solutions for scientist-practitioners within e-mental health

Abstract

Consumers are increasingly likely to access various forms of e-mental health, and there is considerable danger that they may be exposed to untested interventions. Traditional research designs, such as the randomized controlled trial (RCT), are limited in their capacity to match the pace of development and evolving nature of e-mental health. There are a number of unique challenges associated with research into the development and use of technologically based interventions. This article discusses these challenges and examines emerging strategies that may enable clinicians to be more confident when integrating e-mental health in their practices. We argue that greater use of small sample size designs, greater collaboration and research in applied settings, as well as more focused empirical investigation during program development stages are needed. We use a research example of a Smartphone application aimed at the treatment of anxiety disorders to illustrate the procedure, value, and clinical applications of each of the emerging research designs.