TY - JOUR
T1 - Advancing youth co-design of ethical guidelines for AI-powered digital mental health tools
AU - Figueroa, C. A.
AU - Ramos, G.
AU - Psihogios, A. M.
AU - Ekuban, E.
AU - Bansie, P.
AU - de Haas, M.
AU - Karnik, N. S.
AU - Ajilore, O.
AU - Anderson, E. E.
AU - Stiles-Shields, C.
N1 - Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository as part of the Taverne amendment. More information about this copyright law amendment can be found at https://www.openaccess.nl. Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Adolescents and young adults (AYA) often face mental health challenges and are heavily influenced by technology. Digital health interventions (DHIs), leveraging smartphone data and artificial intelligence, offer immense potential for personalized and accessible mental health support. However, ethical guidelines for DHI research fail to address AYA’s unique developmental and technological needs and leave crucial ethical questions unanswered. This gap creates risks of either over- or under-protecting AYA in DHI research, slowing progress and causing harm. This Perspective examines ethical gaps in DHI research for AYA, focusing on three critical domains: challenges of passive data collection and artificial intelligence, consent practices, and risks of exacerbating inequities. We propose an agenda for ethical guidance based on bioethical principles autonomy, respect for persons, beneficence and justice, developed through participatory research with AYA, particularly marginalized groups. We discuss methodologies to achieve this agenda, ensuring ethical, youth-focused and equitable DHI research for the mental health of AYA.
AB - Adolescents and young adults (AYA) often face mental health challenges and are heavily influenced by technology. Digital health interventions (DHIs), leveraging smartphone data and artificial intelligence, offer immense potential for personalized and accessible mental health support. However, ethical guidelines for DHI research fail to address AYA’s unique developmental and technological needs and leave crucial ethical questions unanswered. This gap creates risks of either over- or under-protecting AYA in DHI research, slowing progress and causing harm. This Perspective examines ethical gaps in DHI research for AYA, focusing on three critical domains: challenges of passive data collection and artificial intelligence, consent practices, and risks of exacerbating inequities. We propose an agenda for ethical guidance based on bioethical principles autonomy, respect for persons, beneficence and justice, developed through participatory research with AYA, particularly marginalized groups. We discuss methodologies to achieve this agenda, ensuring ethical, youth-focused and equitable DHI research for the mental health of AYA.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105012269195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s44220-025-00467-7
DO - 10.1038/s44220-025-00467-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105012269195
SN - 2731-6076
VL - 3
SP - 870
EP - 878
JO - Nature Mental Health
JF - Nature Mental Health
IS - 8
ER -
