Four Challenges in ICT-based Mental Health Nursing Research: Perspectives from Rapid Innovation to Rigorous Nursing Science

Purpose: Digital health care including artificial intelligence (AI) is being used both by people who need mental health care and healthcare researchers.Methods: This perspective paper shares our empirical experiences and lessons learned centered on digital mental health nursing research compared with recent trends in literature, guidelines, and expert’s opinion.Results: Four major challenges are addressed that: (1) the time gap widens between the explosion of technology and the maturity of science; (2) mentally vulnerable participants' readiness is critical for research conduct and dissemination; (3) digital health safety and protection are highly demanding; and (4) consistent verification and validation among outcome indicators is required as sensitive to ICT-based research synthesis. As possible solutions, we emphasize the significance of experimental replication considering the unique characteristics of psychiatric populations, clinical implementation with rigorous safety protections, development of a Constitutional AI sensitive to mentally vulnerable population.Conclusion: Our discussion may facilitate further research design with the strategies and conceptual framework for high-quality digital mental health nursing research.