Addressing rising mental health concerns in youth: development of an digital evidence-based APP for providers and teens

The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Oregon Research Behavioral Intervention Strategies, Inc. (doing business as Influents Innovations) $314,362 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on September 1, 2026, to develop a digital evidence-based app for providers and teens addressing depression and subclinical depressive symptoms in youth.

The project addresses the gap between the prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents and access to treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proven effective for mild to moderate depression, but in-person psychosocial therapy faces barriers of cost, resource availability, and trained professional capacity; 59.4 percent of adolescents reporting a major depressive episode in the prior year did not receive treatment. The recipient will develop a scalable, youth-centered digital intervention that spans subclinical symptoms and clinical depression, integrating personalized content, brief skill-focused sessions, and engagement guidance to complement or substitute for in-person therapy.

The award runs from September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027, with place of performance in Springfield, Oregon. This is a Phase I project grant, an assistance type common to NIMH's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and exploratory grant programs. The recipient is a for-profit technology company specializing in digital behavioral health solutions, with prior NIMH project grant experience in digital cognitive-behavioral therapy and other mental health technology platforms.

Abstract

Depression disorders and subclinical depressive symptoms are among the most prevalent healthcare concerns and largest contributors to the global non-fatal disease burden. Depression disorders increase risk of future suicide attempts, substance abuse, antisocial behavior, academic struggles, interpersonal problems, and unemployment. In addition, subclinical depression can become chronic and has been associated with future depressive disorders, substance abuse, and social and academic problems. Recent data suggests that over four in 10 teens experience persistent hopelessness and sadness. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proven to be consistently effective in reducing mild to moderate depression. However, there are many costs associated with in-person psychosocial therapy, requiring significant resources, including time, availability, and trained professionals. In 2021, 59.4% of adolescents reporting one major depressive episode in the past year did not receive treatment. Furthermore, adolescents with subclinical symptom levels make even less use of professional services. Technology-based interventions hold promise for overcoming the constraints of in-person therapy. However, while meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials on scientifically grounded digital and technology assisted interventions show them to be effective for clinical depression and non-inferior to face-to-face therapy, few digital interventions are evidence-based and their primary focus is on acute treatment rather than prevention. This proposed project seeks to address the need for scalable solutions that span subclinical symptoms and clinical depression, are youth-centered and -tailored programs that integrate personalized content, featuring brief skill-focused sessions, and guidance to maximize engagement. In this proposed phase I project, we will develop and evaluate two modules (behavioral engagement; motivation and goals) to demonstrate feasibility of the planned five module product, mindboost, for improving mental health support for adolescents. To facilitate implementation and reach, the product includes tools for service providers and targets school-based health centers. Formative work will include mental health service providers, adolescents, and other stakeholders to inform the proof of concept. A within-subjects, pre-post design will be used to analyze usability, satisfaction and preliminary effects. The phase II project will develop the remaining three youth-facing modules, complete tools for service providers, and evaluate the full product in a randomized controlled trial.