Digital Interventions for Subclinical and Clinical Alcohol Use Disorders with or without Co-Occurring Psychiatric Conditions: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials

Digital Interventions for Subclinical and Clinical Alcohol Use Disorders with or without Co-Occurring Psychiatric Conditions: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Digital Interventions for Subclinical and Clinical Alcohol Use Disorders with or without Co-Occurring Psychiatric Conditions: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials Jaqueline Dana Raineri, Carsten Bogh Juhl, Kaja Ramfjord Larsen, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8807969/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This umbrella review synthesized findings from 21 systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials (k = 189, n = 116,618) examining the effectiveness of digital interventions (DIs) in reducing alcohol consumption among individuals with problematic alcohol use. Effects were analysed across population type (clinical vs subclinical), intervention intensity (high vs low), format (guided vs unguided), delivery mode (app vs computer), comparator (passive vs active), and follow-up duration (short-vs long-term). Small but consistent short-term effects were found for clinical populations, high-intensity interventions, and guided and unguided formats. App-based interventions showed strongest effects, though outcomes were comparable across delivery modes. Unguided DIs showed comparable effects to guided interventions. DIs outperformed passive controls and, in some analyses, face-to-face interventions. Most effects were confined to short-term follow-up. Certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate, with downgrades due to risk of bias, inconsistency, imprecision, and publication bias. Future research should prioritize rigor, standardization, and long-term outcomes. PROSPERO: CRD42024531674. Health sciences/Diseases Health sciences/Health care Health sciences/Medical research Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology Alcohol Use Disorders Digital Interventions Meta-Analyses Problematic Alcohol Use Umbrella Review Randomized Controlled Trials Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files 021025UmbrellaReviewDIPUASupplementsNJPDigitalMedicine2.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 15 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 11 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 10 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 06 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8807969","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":590677349,"identity":"b86527b5-d87b-44be-9d1a-e6992bbaed9a","order_by":0,"name":"Jaqueline Dana Raineri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Southern Denmark","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaqueline","middleName":"Dana","lastName":"Raineri","suffix":""},{"id":590677350,"identity":"6039ec3e-d504-4c21-8eb0-b4e330d798ce","order_by":1,"name":"Carsten Bogh Juhl","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Center for Digital 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