The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of Digital Mental Health Interventions for College Students: A Systematic Review

We evaluated the impact of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for college students. We organized findings using the RE-AIM framework to include reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance.

We conducted a systematic literature review of recent findings from 2019–2024. Our search identified 2,701 articles, of which 95 met inclusion criteria. In the reach domain, student samples were overwhelmingly female and White. In the effectiveness domain, over 80% of DMHIs were effective or partially effective at reducing their primary outcome. In the adoption domain, studies reported modest uptake for DMHIs. In the implementation and maintenance domains, studies reported high adherence rates to DMHI content. While recruitment methods were commonly reported, adaptations and costs of implementation and maintenance were rarely reported.

DMHIs for college students are effective for many psychological outcomes. Future work should address diversifying samples and considering implementation in a variety of college settings.