{
  "abstract": "Mental health apps hold potential to improve access to treatment, but engagement remains low. One barrier may be the belief that mental health cannot be meaningfully improved. In a randomized controlled trial (N = 252), we examined whether a brief growth-mindset-of-mental-health intervention—portraying mental health as improvable, not fixed—can initiate mental health app engagement among people with mental health needs. Participants completed baseline well-being measures (stress, anxiety and depression, and positive mental well-being) and were randomly assigned to the growth-mindset-of-mental-health or active control condition. Over the subsequent three months, we tracked whether they re-engaged with the app overall (i.e., completed at least a second self-help feature), and with features categorized as low-, moderate-, and high-intensity. Analyses revealed that participants in the growth-mindset condition (vs. control) with poorer baseline mental well-being (i.e., higher stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and lower positive mental well-being) were significantly more likely to show repeat app engagement. Moreover, those with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms were more likely to show repeat engagement with moderate-intensity features, while those experiencing higher stress and lower positive mental well-being were more likely to do so with both low- and moderate-intensity features. Together, these findings demonstrate the benefits of the growth-mindset intervention for successful initiation of self-help on a mental health app. Trial Registration: The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT07071311) on July 25, 2025.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Psychology, Harvard University",
    "Department of Management, University of Exeter Business School",
    "Intellect Pte Ltd"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sean H. Y. Toh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "E. J. Horberg"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Feodora R. Kosasih"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Oliver Sündermann"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Paul A. O’Keefe"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fkzqsabt3h4nx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41746-026-03322-w",
  "fulltext_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-03322-w",
  "id": "fkzqsabt3h4nx",
  "issns": [
    "2398-6352"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-03322-w",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "R858-859.7"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3202|Digital Mental Health Interventions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221703236",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-026-03322-w_reference.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fkzqsabt3h4nx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:46:27Z",
      "native_id": "d880baa7c9c54ac490c8d09ddf67befc",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-03322-w"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:R858-859.7",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A “growth mindset of mental health” intervention increases the likelihood of initiating self-help on a mental health app: a randomized controlled trial",
  "title_text": "A “growth mindset of mental health” intervention increases the likelihood of initiating self-help on a mental health app: a randomized controlled trial",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:46:27Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fkzqsabt3h4nx",
  "venue": "npj Digital Medicine",
  "versions": []
}