Youth mental health trajectories are inherently complex, and current tools cannot reliably forecast who will deteriorate, recover or relapse. This Comment discusses why digital measurement-based care offers a scalable, evidence-based solution for continuous and adaptive care, and proposes five recommendations to address the structural and behavioral conditions needed for digital measurement-based care to become routine practice.
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F.I. and I.B.H. contributed to the conception of this Comment, participated in writing and editing the manuscript, and approved the final version of the text.
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I.B.H. is the co-director of health and policy at the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney, which operates an early-intervention youth services at Camperdown under contract to headspace, and is the chief scientific advisor to and a 3.2% equity shareholder in Innowell, which aims to transform mental health services through the use of innovative technologies.
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Nature Mental Health thanks Susan Douglas, Kelli Scott and the other, anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Iorfino, F., Hickie, I.B. The necessity of digital measurement-based care for navigating complexity in youth mental health. Nat. Mental Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-026-00594-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-026-00594-9
