1 Overview
Working with my advisor’s lab, I led the design and execution of a structured scoping review that asked a deceptively simple question: how are wearable and mHealth technologies really being used to capture and intervene on stress in practice? I built and iterated on a search and coding protocol across PubMed and IEEE Xplore, refining inclusion criteria, stress definitions, and data-extraction templates whenever borderline papers or conflicting labels broke the scheme. During dual-review screening, I regularly revisited our categories with my co-reviewer and advisor—especially when studies mixed HRV, cortisol, and app-based self-reports in ways our initial framework could not neatly describe—until we reached a stable taxonomy of study designs, sensors, and outcomes. The final map shows a field dominated by small, HRV-centered pilots with short follow-up, scattered use of hormonal markers and telemedicine, and limited attention to underserved populations, and it now anchors how I think about designing next-generation, wearable-driven stress interventions that are both methodologically sound and scalable beyond narrow laboratory samples.