Peer-reviewed article
Digital technologies for non-invasive stress detection, monitoring, and mitigation in children and adolescents: a scoping review.
Nasser A, Baslyman M, Elferik S ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examines 34 peer-reviewed studies on non-invasive digital technologies used to detect, monitor, and reduce stress in children and adolescents aged 0-18 years. The review found that wearable devices and mobile apps dominate the research, with some studies testing biofeedback, games, and parent-mediated interventions. Most studies were conducted in schools and laboratories rather than real-world settings, and methods for measuring stress varied widely across studies. The authors identify significant gaps, including limited research with younger children and adolescents, few long-term follow-up studies, and insufficient attention to ethical and privacy issues.
Key points
- Thirty-four studies evaluated non-invasive technologies for pediatric stress detection and monitoring, predominantly using wearable sensors and mobile applications
- Stress induction and assessment methods were heterogeneous, often relying on task-based or situational stressors rather than standardized pediatric protocols
- Studies were conducted primarily in schools and laboratories; longitudinal real-world deployments and clinical applications remain limited
- A smaller subset examined mitigation strategies including biofeedback, serious games, smart objects, and caregiver-mediated interventions, with varying evidence
- Ethical, privacy, and implementation issues were acknowledged but not systematically addressed across included studies
Limitations
This is a scoping review that maps the literature rather than synthesizing intervention effects with meta-analysis. The review does not provide quantitative evidence of effectiveness for any specific technology or intervention, and cannot determine which approaches work best for particular populations or contexts.
Abstract
Background Stress in childhood and adolescence can disrupt emotional, cognitive, and physiological development and contribute to long-term health consequences. Conventional assessments, such as cortisol sampling and retrospective questionnaires, are often invasive, burdensome, and poorly suited for repeated pediatric use. Advances in mobile health, wearable devices, and other non-invasive sensing approaches offer new opportunities for real-time stress detection, monitoring, and mitigation in children and adolescents. Objective This scoping review synthesizes evidence on non-invasive technologies for pediatric stress detection, monitoring, and mitigation, with attention to mobile, wearable, and ubiquitous health applications. It maps reported technologies, protocols, study contexts, and intervention approaches, and identifies gaps for future research and practice. Methods Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, four bibliographic databases-PubMed, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library-were searched, with Google Scholar screened as a supplementary source. Searches covered peer-reviewed studies published from January 2013 to April 2026. Eligible studies involved participants aged 0-18 years, evaluated non-invasive technological methods for stress detection, monitoring, or mitigation, and reported empirical outcomes. Data were charted across technology type, stress induction and validation, study context, age group, evaluation method, datasets, and intervention strategies. Results Thirty-four studies were included. Wearable and mobile sensing approaches dominated the literature, while fewer studies examined non-contact, ambient, or hybrid systems. Stress induction and assessment methods were heterogeneous, often relying on task-based, situational, or context-specific stressors rather than standardized pediatric protocols. Studies were conducted in school, laboratory, home, therapy, and emerging clinical contexts, although longitudinal real-world deployments remained limited. Children under 13 years were more frequently represented than adolescents, while younger children and developmentally diverse populations remained unevenly studied. A smaller subset examined mitigation strategies, including biofeedback, serious games, smart objects, and caregiver- or parent-mediated interventions. Ethical, privacy, and implementation issues were acknowledged but not systematically addressed. Conclusions Non-invasive technologies show strong potential for pediatric stress detection, monitoring, and mitigation, particularly through wearable, mobile, and interactive systems. However, the field remains methodologically fragmented. Future work should develop age-appropriate stress protocols, improve dataset diversity and transparency, conduct ecologically valid longitudinal evaluations, and strengthen ethical, privacy, and equity considerations for translation into schools, homes, telehealth, and clinical care.