Digital Single-Session Interventions for Youth Mental Health

Youths with mental health concerns face a myriad of barriers to receiving evidence-based support, and up to 80% of youths cannot access any care at all. For youths who do access treatment, early dropout is common and the most frequent number of sessions attended is just one. This treatment gap represents a pervasive public health issue and is unlikely to be filled by traditional models of mental healthcare delivery, which often require many weeks of one-on-one therapy delivered by highly trained professionals in specialty clinics. In this chapter, we overview how digital, self-administered single-session interventions (SSIs) can serve as adjunctive or stand-alone tools to help increase accessibility of quality care for youths with or without acute symptoms. We review the state of the evidence on digital SSIs for youths from 2005 to 2023 and highlight common design features among effective interventions. Lastly, we conclude with a discussion on how intentional and sustained implementation efforts in healthcare, educational, and online settings may maximize the reach and scalability potential of SSIs.