An Evaluation of the Evidence on Mobile Health Applications for Mental Health, Substance Use and Delinquency in Justice-Involved Adults and Youth: a Scoping Review a Scoping Review

Justice-involved individuals often struggle to access adequate mental healthcare, highlighting the need for new therapeutic approaches. Mobile health (mHealth) applications offer a promising solution, but research on their use in this population is limited. This scoping review maps the current literature on mobile applications targeting mental health and substance use, and delinquent behavior in justice-involved and at-risk individuals. We included full-length empirical studies and conducted descriptive quantitative analyses to summarize study characteristics. In addition, we assessed the reporting quality of each study using the CONSORT-EHEALTH checklist. Finally, we examined implementation outcomes and effectiveness through a basic qualitative content analysis. Twenty-two records, covering eighteen unique applications, were included. Most studies focused on adults in ambulant settings. This adult-centered focus overlooks the distinct developmental needs of justice-involved youth, a population that remains largely underrepresented in mHealth research. While reporting quality generally met academic standards, many studies lacked mHealth-specific details, such as user engagement metrics and digital divide demographics. Preliminary findings suggest potential benefits, including behavioral improvements, enhanced patient-clinician communication, and increased insight for the patient. However, issues such as reliance on language, privacy concerns, and technical difficulties limit usability. Reported effectiveness was often short-term or showed no significant differences between groups, possibly due to small sample sizes, high attrition, and reliance on blended treatment formats. In conclusion, mobile applications show promise for forensic mental healthcare, but further methodologically robust research is needed to improve their real-world implementation.