Expanding the Reach of Mental Health Apps Among College Students

This letter builds upon McCarthy and Horwitz’s (2025) study published in Journal of American College Health, which examined first-year college students’ attitudes and barriers to mental health apps. The letter highlights key areas for further research, including considering the role of international student status in mental health app use, incorporating pharmacological treatment history into mental health treatment measures, and expanding the application of the Health Belief Model to capture additional constructs pertinent to college students’ attitudes toward mental health apps. It advocates for longitudinal studies to assess causal relationships between prior mental health care use and mental health app engagement. Finally, the letter proposes utilizing the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to explore the multi-level factors influencing attitudes toward and use of mental health apps among college students. Insights provided in this letter have the potential to inform strategies to expand the reach of mental health apps among college students.