Table 1.

Summary of studies using mobile phone apps for mental health response in disasters.

References	Country of study	Type of natural disaster	Mental health conditions targeted	Target population	Name of app (if available)	Intervention (app content)	Conclusion
Choi et al [32]	South Korea	Mixed: earthquakes—2 participants, fires—3 participants, hazardous chemical—4 participants, and traffic accidents—11 participants.	Post-traumatic stress, 1 year after a natural, social, or artificial disaster.	Disaster survivors	TLSa apps	Information: self-assessment (PTSDb, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder), postdisaster responses, coping mechanisms (anger, sleep disorder, and addiction) and guidance on how to use information from specialized institutions. Psychological healing: breathing, butterfly hug, meditation, positive affirmations, healing music, 108 bows, yoga, and writing. Ventilation and diversion (mood change category): find the same picture game, fruit slot machine, bubble shot, coloring book, and Tetris.	The TLS mobile app was effective for increasing positive and decreasing negative psychological factors according to app usage time and is expected to provide psychological stability and to provide the appropriate conditions to enable effective self-control and management for disaster survivors.
Heinz et al [30]	United States	Wildfires	PTSD and postdisaster distress	Disaster survivors	Sonoma Rises	The app includes 6 self-paced content sections, psychoeducation, and direct connections to free and local mental health care services. Participants completed daily ratings of anxiety and fear; weekly measures of post-traumatic stress symptoms; internalizing and externalizing symptoms; psychosocial functioning; and then measures of anxiety, depression, well-being, sleep, academic engagement, and perceived social support; and quantitative and qualitative measures of intervention satisfaction and feasibility.	Findings from this study suggest that adolescent disaster survivors are willing and able to use digital health tools and find them beneficial.
Rung et al [31]	United States	Hurricanes in 2005 and Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010	Stress prevention and management	Disaster survivors	The Headspace mobile mindfulness app	A standardized meditation program on MBSRc used for at least 30 days, 10 minutes at a time.	The program was easy and cost-effective to implement and acceptable to those who participated, but few women elected to try it. Several short-term benefits of the program were identified, particularly for depression and sleep.
Choi et al [33]	South Korea	Disaster simulation training for responders in flood, fire, or leakage of hazardous chemicals	Traumatic stress	Disaster relief workers	PFAd app	PFA preparation: self-assessment for relief worker, precautions for general and vulnerable group, precautions by disaster types. PFA implementation: forming therapeutic relationship; information gathering; and assessment of psychological status, skills for PFA, and linkage to community resources. Psychological healing: response after disaster relief, stress management, and institutions for support	The use of PFA mobile app during disaster simulation training can function as a new framework for providing disaster relief teaching and methodical mental health services to survivors at the disaster site by disaster health care staff.
Seligman et al [34]	United States	Any disaster	Stress prevention and management	Disaster relief workers	SAMHSAe Behavioral Health Disaster Response App	The app provides access to trauma and disaster-related behavioral health resources available on the web or in hard copyright on a smartphone.	The SAMHSA disaster app assures that responders feel confident at having the best disaster behavior health resources.

^aTLS: Training for Life Skills.

^bPTSD: posttraumatic stress disorder.

^cMBSR: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

^dPFA: Psychological First Aid.

^eSAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.