scholarly journals In Search of Digital Dopamine: How Apps Can Motivate Depressed Patients, a Review and Conceptual Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1454
Author(s):  
Stephane Mouchabac ◽  
Redwan Maatoug ◽  
Ismael Conejero ◽  
Adrien Vladimir ◽  
Olivier Bonnot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Health ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Treatment Of Depression ◽  
Technical Principles ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

Introduction: Depression is highly prevalent and causes considerable suffering and disease burden despite the existence of wide-ranging treatment options. Momentary assessment is a promising tool in the management of psychiatric disorders, and particularly depression. It allows for a real-time evaluation of symptoms and an earlier detection of relapse or treatment efficacy. Treating the motivational and hedonic aspects of depression is a key target reported in the literature, but it is time-consuming in terms of human resources. Digital Applications offer a major opportunity to indirectly regulate impaired motivational circuits through dopaminergic pathways. Objective: The main objective of this review was twofold: (1) propose a conceptual and critical review of the literature regarding the theoretical and technical principles of digital applications focused on motivation in depression, activating dopamine, and (2) suggest recommendations on the relevance of using these tools and their potential place in the treatment of depression. Material and Methods: A search for words related to “dopamine”, “depression”, “smartphone apps”, “digital phenotype” has been conducted on PubMed. Results: Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) differ from traditional treatments by providing relevant, useful intervention strategies in the context of people’s daily lives. EMIs triggered by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) are called “Smart-EMI”. Smart-EMIs can mimic the “dopamine reward system” if the intervention is tailored for motivation or hedonic enhancement, and it has been shown that a simple reward (such as a digital badge) can increase motivation. Discussion: The various studies presented support the potential interest of digital health in effectively motivating depressed patients to adopt therapeutic activation behaviors. Finding effective ways to integrate EMIs with human-provided therapeutic support may ultimately yield the most efficient and effective intervention method. This approach could be a helpful tool to increase adherence and motivation. Conclusion: Smartphone apps can motivate depressed patients by enhancing dopamine, offering the opportunity to enhance motivation and behavioral changes, although longer term studies are still needed.

scholarly journals Predicting short term mood developments among depressed patients using adherence and ecological momentary assessment data

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Mikus ◽  
Mark Hoogendoorn ◽  
Artur Rocha ◽  
Joao Gama ◽  
Jeroen Ruwaard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

scholarly journals Are fluctuations in personality states more than fluctuations in affect?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Edmund Wilson ◽  
Renee J. Thompson ◽  
Simine Vazire
Keyword(s):  
Positive Affect ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
State Affect ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

People fluctuate in their behavior as they go about their daily lives, but little is known about the processes underlying these fluctuations. In two ecological momentary assessment studies (Ns = 124, 415), we examined the extent to which negative and positive affect accounted for the within-person variance in Big Five states. Participants were prompted six times a day over six days (Study 1) or four times a day over two weeks (Study 2) to report their recent thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Multilevel modeling results indicated that negative and positive affect account for most, but not all, of the within-person variance in personality states. Importantly, situation variables predicted variance in some personality states even after accounting for fluctuations in affect, indicating that fluctuations in personality states may be more than fluctuations in state affect.

Correlates of real-world goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Jaisal T. Merchant ◽  
Erin K. Moran ◽  
Michael J. Strube ◽  
Deanna M. Barch
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Functional Skills ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Clinical Interviews ◽  
Motivated Behavior ◽  
Targeted Treatments ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Momentary Assessment

Abstract Background Deficits in goal-directed behavior (i.e. behavior conducted to achieve a specific goal or outcome) are core to schizophrenia, difficult to treat, and associated with poor functional outcomes. Factors such as negative symptoms, effort-cost decision-making, cognition, and functional skills have all been associated with goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia as indexed by clinical interviews or laboratory-based tasks. However, little work has examined whether these factors relate to the real-world pursuit of goal-directed activities in this population. Methods This study aimed to fill this gap by using Ecological Momentary Assessment (four survey prompts per day for 1 week) to test hypotheses about symptom, effort allocation, cognitive, and functional measures associated with planned and completed goal-directed behavior in the daily lives of 63 individuals with schizophrenia. Results Individuals with schizophrenia completed more goal-directed activities than they planned [t(62) = −4.01, p < 0.001]. Motivation and pleasure (i.e. experiential) negative symptoms, controlling for depressive symptoms, negatively related to planned goal-directed behavior [odds ratio (OR) 0.92, p = 0.005]. Increased effort expenditure for high probability rewards (planned: OR 1.01, p = 0.034, completed: OR 1.01, p = 0.034) along with performance on a daily functional skills task (planned: OR 1.04, p = 0.002, completed: OR 1.03, p = 0.047) negatively related to both planned and completed goal-directed activity. Conclusions Our results present correlates of real-world goal-directed behavior that largely align with impaired ability to make future estimations in schizophrenia. This insight could help identify targeted treatments for the elusive motivated behavior deficits in this population.

Development and Validation of a Smartphone-Based App for the Longitudinal Assessment of Anxiety in Daily Life

Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112110651
Author(s):  
Lydia Fortea ◽  
Miquel Tortella-Feliu ◽  
Asier Juaneda-Seguí ◽  
Víctor De la Peña-Arteaga ◽  
Pamela Chavarría-Elizondo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Smartphone App ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Longitudinal Assessment ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Momentary Assessment ◽  
Different Levels

Current methods to assess human anxiety often ignore that anxiety is a dynamic process and have limitations such as high recall bias and low generalizability to real life. Smartphone apps using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) may overcome such limitations. We developed a smartphone app for the longitudinal evaluation of anxiety symptoms using EMA. We assessed the feasibility (retention and compliance) and psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the app over 6 months in a sample of 99 participants with different levels of anxiety. The EMA-based smartphone app was highly feasible. It showed excellent within-person and between-person reliability, high convergent and moderate discriminant validity, and significant incremental validity. Assessing anxiety longitudinally using a smartphone and following EMA principles is feasible and can be reliable and valid. Studies combining EMA-based anxiety longitudinal assessments with other assessment methods deserve further research and may offer novel insights into human anxiety.

Momentary associations between affect and alcohol use in the daily lives of college students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Sayed ◽  
Amanda Lee McGowan ◽  
Mia Jovanova ◽  
Danielle Cosme ◽  
Yoona Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Drinking Motives ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

Objective: Alcohol is theorized to be motivated by desires to regulate negative affect and/or to enhance positive affect. We tested the association between momentary affect and alcohol use in the daily lives of college students, hypothesizing that alcohol use would be more likely to follow increases in positive affect and that alcohol use would not be strongly associated with negative affect. Method: Using two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies consisting of two prompts per day for 28 days, we used multilevel hurdle models to test for lagged associations between positive and negative affect and alcohol use. There were 108 participants (60.19%; mean age = 20.20, SD=1.69) in EMA study 1 and 268 participants (60.03%women, mean age = 20.22, SD=1.96) in EMA study 2. To provide context for the affect-alcohol associations, we collected data on whether participants drank alone or with others at each drinking occasion and the drinking motives of participants using the Drinking Motives Questionnaire. Results: Alcohol use was more likely to occur following increases in positive affect. No significant associations emerged between fluctuations in negative affect and alcohol use. This pattern of findings was observed across both ecological momentary assessment studies. The majority of alcohol use occurred in social contexts. Conclusions: College students who report primarily social and enhancement motives for drinking and who seldom drink alone are more likely to drink following increases in positive affect.

scholarly journals Youth Psychopathology in Daily Life: Systematically Reviewed Characteristics and Potentials of Ecological Momentary Assessment Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjolein R. Thunnissen ◽  
Marije aan het Rot ◽  
Barbara J. van den Hoofdakker ◽  
Maaike H. Nauta
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Clinical Interviews ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment ◽  
Predict Treatment Response ◽  
Over Time

AbstractTraditionally, symptoms of youth psychopathology are assessed with questionnaires, clinical interviews, or laboratory observations. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) could be a particularly valuable additional methodology, since EMA enables examining the daily lives of youths near real-time, considering fluctuations and specific contexts of symptoms. This systematic review aimed to review the characteristics of current EMA applications and to provide a synthesis of their potential in studying youth psychopathology. Following a systematic search in PsycInfo and Medline, we identified 50 studies in clinical samples. Most studies used EMA to examine fluctuations in symptoms, affect, and behavior, and the relation with contextual factors. EMA was also used to investigate interactions between parents and their children over time, and to monitor and predict treatment response. EMA appeared feasible in youth and could provide valuable insights that contribute to understanding youth psychopathology. Benefits, gaps, and suggestions for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Use of digital health technologies to examine subjective and objective sleep with next-day cognition and daily indicators of health in persons with and without HIV

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ni Sun-Suslow ◽  
Laura M. Campbell ◽  
Bin Tang ◽  
Arin C. Fisher ◽  
Ellen Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

AbstractMost previous studies investigating sleep’s association with health outcomes have relied on averaged sleep quality and laboratory-based health measures. This study examines the dynamic within-person relationships between subjective (Ecological Momentary Assessment) and objective sleep (actigraphy) on next-day cognition (subjective and objective), mood, and engagement in daily activities using linear mixed-effects regression modeling. Participants included 94 individuals (59 people with HIV, 35 HIV-) aged 50–74, assessed daily for 14 consecutive days/nights. Subjective and objective sleep were well correlated and were both associated with subjective ratings of cognition, but not objective cognition. Worse subjective sleep was associated with next-day lower happiness and higher depressed mood, and more pain, but was not related to next-day daily activities. Objective sleep was associated with next-day depressed mood and feelings of worry, and was positively associated with next-day television watching. Results provide evidence to support the utility of real-time assessment for sleep and functional outcomes that may lead to potential personalized interventions for individuals with and without HIV.

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