PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Addictive Disorders
CAR-AB: A National Framework for Digital Wellness and Youth Mental Health targeting Behavioral Addictions in Indi
Provisionally accepted
YATAN PAL SINGH BALHARA1*
Rajeev Ranjan2
Ragul Ganesh3
Siddharth Sarkar1
Shivanand Kattimani3
Vandana Saxena4
Subhash Das5
Vishal Dhiman6
Swarndeep Singh7
Rachna Bhargava1
Yumnam Surbala Devi1Tanmay Joshi8
Anindo Majumdar8Syed Hube Ali9- 1All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
- 2All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna, Patna, India
- 3Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India
- 4University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
- 5North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, India
- 6All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh, Rishikesh, India
- 7Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India
- 8All India Institute of Medical Sciences Bhopal, Bhopal, India
- 9UNICEF India, New Delhi, India
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Digital wellness and digital technology related addictions have emerged as critical public health research priorities in India, especially given the growing impact of behavioral addiction on youth mental health. The Centre for Advanced Research on Addictive Behaviours (CAR-AB) aims to promote safe digital technology use and enhance digital well-being among Indian youth. CAR-AB was conceptualized at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in collaboration with leaders from health, public health, technology and education sectors and with the funding support from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). CAR-AB aims to establish a scientific, systematic, and sustainable framework for addressing addictive behaviours, and promoting digital and overall well-being among Indian youth. CAR-AB is intended to develop and evaluate AI-based predictive models; validated intervention packages; training and capacity-building toolkit; national resource centre on addictive behaviours; and policy and programmatic recommendations. CAR-AB envisions "Digital Wellness for All" by promoting safe and healthy use of digital technology.
Keywords: Addictive Behaviors, artificial intelligence, digital wellness, Gambling, Gaming, prevention and intervention, public health research, Shopping/ buying
Received: 15 Nov 2025; Accepted: 22 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 BALHARA, Ranjan, Ganesh, Sarkar, Kattimani, Saxena, Das, Dhiman, Singh, Bhargava, Devi, Joshi, Majumdar and Ali. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: YATAN PAL SINGH BALHARA
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