Research Article

Digital Phenotyping of Mental Health Disorders Using Wearable Smartphone Technologies: A Systematic Review

by  Victor E. Ekong, Peter Godfrey Obike, Hydara Mbemba, Uyinomen Ekong
journal cover
International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 187 - Issue 99
Published: April 2026
Authors: Victor E. Ekong, Peter Godfrey Obike, Hydara Mbemba, Uyinomen Ekong
10.5120/ijcae7e4f5c5f06f
PDF

Victor E. Ekong, Peter Godfrey Obike, Hydara Mbemba, Uyinomen Ekong . Digital Phenotyping of Mental Health Disorders Using Wearable Smartphone Technologies: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Computer Applications. 187, 99 (April 2026), 34-41. DOI=10.5120/ijcae7e4f5c5f06f

                        @article{ 10.5120/ijcae7e4f5c5f06f,
                        author  = { Victor E. Ekong,Peter Godfrey Obike,Hydara Mbemba,Uyinomen Ekong },
                        title   = { Digital Phenotyping of Mental Health Disorders Using Wearable Smartphone Technologies: A Systematic Review },
                        journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
                        year    = { 2026 },
                        volume  = { 187 },
                        number  = { 99 },
                        pages   = { 34-41 },
                        doi     = { 10.5120/ijcae7e4f5c5f06f },
                        publisher = { Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA }
                        }
                        %0 Journal Article
                        %D 2026
                        %A Victor E. Ekong
                        %A Peter Godfrey Obike
                        %A Hydara Mbemba
                        %A Uyinomen Ekong
                        %T Digital Phenotyping of Mental Health Disorders Using Wearable Smartphone Technologies: A Systematic Review%T 
                        %J International Journal of Computer Applications
                        %V 187
                        %N 99
                        %P 34-41
                        %R 10.5120/ijcae7e4f5c5f06f
                        %I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

Digital phenotyping has emerged as a promising paradigm for continuous and objective mental health monitoring using wearable and smartphone technologies. However, existing studies remain fragmented in terms of methodological consistency, model validation, and clinical applicability. This paper presents a systematic and performance-oriented review of digital phenotyping systems, synthesizing findings from 62 studies, including 16 high-relevance articles. Unlike prior reviews, this study introduces a structured computational framework that characterizes the end-to-end pipeline of digital phenotyping systems, encompassing data acquisition, feature engineering, machine learning modeling, and clinical decision support. Comparative analysis reveals that predictive models achieve accuracies ranging from 72% to 82%, with probabilistic and supervised learning approaches outperforming traditional regression techniques. However, significant gaps persist in external validation, reproducibility, and multimodal data integration. The findings highlight the need for standardized benchmarking protocols, improved algorithm transparency, and adaptive AI-driven intervention mechanisms. By bridging methodological, computational, and ethical dimensions, this study provides a foundation for the design and evaluation of next-generation digital mental health systems. This study contributes to the advancement of computational methods for scalable, data-driven mental health monitoring systems.

References
  • Martinez-Martin, N., H. T. Greely, and M. K. Cho, 2021. Ethical development of digital phenotyping tools for mental health applications: Delphi study, JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 9(3), p. e27343, URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/27343
  • Insel, T. R. 2017. Digital phenotyping: Technology for a new science of behavior. JAMA, 318(13), 1215–1216, URL: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.11295
  • Teo, J. X., Davila, S., Yang, C., Pua, C. J., Yap, J., Tan, S. Y., & Yeo, K. K. 2019. Digital phenotyping by consumer wearables identifies sleep-associated markers of cardiovascular disease risk and biological aging. Communications Biology, 2(1), 361. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0605-1
  • Beiwinkel, T., Kindermann, S., Maier, A., Kerl, C., Moock, J., Barbian, G., & Rössler, W. 2016. Using smartphones to monitor bipolar disorder symptoms: A pilot study. JMIR Mental Health, 3(1), e2., URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.4560
  • Jacobson, N. C., B. J. Summers, and S. Wilhelm. 2019. Digital biomarkers of social anxiety severity: Digital phenotyping using passive smartphone sensors, J. Med. Internet Res., 21(12), p. e16875, URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/16875 Faurholt-Jepsen, M., et al., 2019. The effect of smartphone-based monitoring on illness activity in bipolar disorder: The MONARCA II randomized controlled single-blinded trial, Psychol. Med., 49(11),1973–1983, URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719000710
  • Albrechta, H., Goodman, G. R., Oginni, E., Mohamed, Y., Venkatasubramanian, K., Dumas, A., Carreiro, S., Lee, J. S., Glynn, T. R., O'Cleirigh, C., Mayer, K. H., Fisher, C. B., & Chai, P. R. 2024. Acceptance of digital phenotyping linked to a digital pill system to measure PrEP adherence among men who have sex with men with substance use. PLOS Digital Health, 3(2), e0000457., URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000457
  • Bourla, A., et al. 2018. E-psychiatry: New technologies for mental health management. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 123.URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00051
  • Busk, J., Faurholt-Jepsen, M., Frost, M., Bardram, J., Vedel Kessing, L., & Winther, O. 2020. Forecasting mood in bipolar disorder from smartphone self-assessments: Hierarchical Bayesian approach. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(4), e15028. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/15028
  • Santis, K. D., Mergenthal, L., Christianson, L., Busskamp, A., Vonstein, C., and Zeeb, H. 2023. Digital technologies for health promotion and disease prevention in older people: Scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e43542. URL; https://doi.org/10.2196/43542
  • Dlima, S. D., Shevade, S., Menezes, S. R., & Ganju, A. 2022. Digital phenotyping in health using machine learning approaches: Scoping review. JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, 3(1), e39618. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/39618
  • Faurholt-Jepsen, M., Frost, M., Ritz, C., Christensen, E. M., Jacoby, A. S., Mikkelsen, R. L., Knorr, U., Bardram, J. E., Vinberg, M., and Kessing, L. V. 2015. Daily electronic self-monitoring in bipolar disorder using smartphones - The MONARCA I trial: A randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind, and parallel group trial. Psychological Medicine, 45(13), 2691-2704. URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715000410
  • Ferreri, F., Bourla A, Mouchabac and S, Karila L. 2018. e-Addictology: An Overview of New Technologies for Assessing and Intervening in Addictive Behaviors. Front Psychiatry. 9(51), URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00051.
  • Frank, A. C., Li, R., Peterson, B. S., and Narayanan, S. S. 2023. Wearable and mobile technologies for the evaluation and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: Scoping review. JMIR Mental Health, 10, e45572. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/45572
  • Gardea-Resendez, M., Breitinger, S., Walker, A., Harper, L., Xiong, A., Stoppel, C., Volety, R. M., Raman, J., Byun, J. S., Langholm, C., Goes, F. S., Zandi, P. P., Torous, J., and Frye, M. A. 2024. Digital technologies tracking active and passive data collection in depressive disorders: Lessons learned from a case series. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 30(6), 434-439. URL: https://doi.org/10.1097/PRA.0000000000000820
  • Hassan, L., Milton, A., Sawyer, C., Casson, A. J., Torous, J., Davies, A., Ruiz-Yu, B., and Firth, J. 2025. Utility of consumer-grade wearable devices for inferring physical and mental health outcomes in severe mental illness: Systematic review. JMIR Mental Health, 12, e65143. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/65143
  • Jayakumar, P., Lin, E., Galea, V., Mathew, A. J., Panda, N., Vetter, I., & Haynes, A. B. 2020. Digital phenotyping and patient-generated health data for outcome measurement in surgical care: A scoping review. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 10(4), 282. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm10040282
  • Onnela, J. P., and Rauch, S. L. 2017. Harnessing smartphone-based digital phenotyping to enhance behavioral and mental health. Translational Psychiatry, 7(7), e1013. URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.25
  • Rashid, N. A., et al., 2021. Evaluating the utility of digital phenotyping to predict health outcomes in schizophrenia: Protocol for the HOPE-S observational study, BMJ Open, 11(10), p. e046552, URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046552
  • Rashid, Z., Folarin, A. A., Zhang, Y., Ranjan, Y., Conde, P., Sankesara, H., Sun, S., Stewart, C., Laiou, P., and Dobson, R. J. B. 2024. Digital phenotyping of mental and physical conditions: Remote monitoring of patients through RADAR-base platform. JMIR Mental Health, 11, e51259. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/51259
  • Zhang, Y., Stewart, C., Ranjan, Y., Conde, P., Sankesara, H., Rashid, Z., Sun, S., Dobson, R. J. B., and Folarin, A. A. 2024. Large-scale digital phenotyping: Identifying depression and anxiety indicators in a general UK population with over 10,000 participants. arXiv. URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.16339
  • Winslow, B., and Mills, E. 2023. Wearables for stress management in military health. BMJ Military Health, 169(2), 123–132. URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjmilitary-2022-002306
  • Torous, J., Kiang, M. V., Lorme, J., & Onnela, J. P. 2018. New tools for new research in psychiatry: A scalable and customizable platform to empower data-driven smartphone research. JMIR Mental Health, 5(2), e16. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/mental.9785
  • Torous, J., & Onnela, J. P. 2020. Digital phenotyping of mental health: Meaning, challenges, and opportunities. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 33(5), 464-468. URL: https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000633
  • Doryab A, Villalba D, Chikersal P, Dutcher J, Tumminia M, Liu X, Cohen S, Creswell K, Mankoff J, Creswell J, Dey A. 2019. Identifying Behavioral Phenotypes of Loneliness and Social Isolation with Passive Sensing: Statistical Analysis, Data Mining and Machine Learning of Smartphone and Fitbit Data. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth; 7(7):e13209. URL: https://doi.org/10.2196/13209
  • Wells, G.A., Wells, G., Shea, B., Shea, B., O'Connell, D., Peterson, J., Welch, Losos, M., Tugwell, P., Ga, S.W., Zello, G.A., & Petersen, J. A. 2015. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for Assessing the Quality of Non randomised Studies in Meta-Analyses, Science Open Inc., USA, URL: http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp.
Index Terms
Computer Science
Information Sciences
No index terms available.
Keywords

Digital Phenotyping Wearable Technologies Mental Health Monitoring Digital Biomarkers Computational Framework Machine Learning

Powered by PhDFocusTM