Scientific Publication Patterns of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Interactive Mobile Technologies for Treatment Eating Disorders: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The development of interactive mobile technologies (IMTs) as a supportive tool for psychological treatment of eating disorders has been enhanced significantly throughout the past 10 years. Thus, to investigate how research on those techniques is reflected in the current literature, the author analyzed peer-reviewed publications to determine the existing patterns of research domains in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) applying IMTs and eating disorder treatments and suggested future research directions in this research area. Bibliometric analysis was employed to identify publication patterns, frequent keywords, and tendencies for the fields during 2010 and 2021. The author focused on highly ranked sources to find the answers for research questions.

A total of 875 relevant studies were retrieved from the LENS database. The study found a significant increase in research domains during the past decade, indicating General Medicine, Psychiatry and Mental Health as leading subject areas. Among the most productive journals are Health Technology Assessment, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and JMIR mHealth and uHealth, which published papers in Medicine, Psychology and Psychological Intervention. This current study indicated that IMT, in combination with in-person CBT increases the efficiency of health intervention for eating disorders, reduces essential symptoms and improves overall well-being. IMT proved its efficiency as a supportive tool in managing diet, body image, stress, and sleeping disorders. This study will be beneficial for researchers to obtain an overview of the publication trends in research domains for further studies, and it indicates the potential gaps in explored fields.