Journal of Advanced Health Informatics Research
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2026)

Explainable AI for Mental Health and Biomedical Decision Systems: A Comprehensive Review

Pramesti Dewi (Universitas Harapan Bangsa)
Purwono Purwono (Universitas Harapan Bangsa)
Annastasya Nabila Elsa Wulandari (Universitas Harapan Bangsa)
Indah Trivilia (Universitas Harapan Bangsa)



Article Info

Publish Date
29 Aug 2026

Abstract

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mental health is experiencing rapid development, while algorithmic transparency and clinical translation readiness still face fundamental obstacles. This review synthesizes empirical findings related to the use of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in mental health and biomedical decision systems, focusing on three evaluative aspects, namely explainability architecture, validation strength, and clinical integration. The literature search followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines across five major databases for publications from 2020 to 2026 and yielded nine studies that met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis results show the dominance of post-hoc approaches, particularly SHAP, which are commonly applied to ensemble and boosting models, while intrinsic models and counterfactual approaches are still rarely used. The majority of studies rely on internal validation, while independent external validation and prospective application in real clinical workflows are relatively limited. User-based evaluation of explainability has also been understudied, with algorithmic transparency more often understood as technical feature attribution rather than as a verified mechanism in clinical decision-making. These findings indicate a persistent gap between methodological advances and the level of clinical translation maturity. Explainability has not been systematically integrated with robust validation designs or user-oriented evaluations. This review proposes a translation evaluation framework that combines technical and clinical dimensions to assess the readiness for XAI implementation more comprehensively. The development of XAI in mental health requires evaluation standardization, strengthened external validation, and prospective testing focused on clinical impact and user trust.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

jahir

Publisher

Subject

Computer Science & IT Control & Systems Engineering Engineering Medicine & Pharmacology Public Health

Description

Journal of Advanced Health Informatics Research (JAHIR) is a scientific journal that focuses on the application of computer science to the health field. JAHIR is a peer-reviewed open-access journal that is published three times a year (April, August and December). The scientific journal is published ...