Ecological momentary assessment with smartphones for measuring mental health problems in adolescents

Abstract

AIM: To analyze the viability of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) for measuring the mental states associated with psychopathological problems in adolescents. METHODS: In a sample of 110 adolescents, a sociodemographic data survey and an EMA Smartphone application over a one-week period (five times each day), was developed to explore symptom profiles, everyday problems, coping strategies, and the contexts in which the events take place. RESULTS: The positive response was 68.6%. Over 2250 prompts about mental states were recorded. In 53% of situations the smartphone was answered at home, 25.5% of cases they were with their parents or with peers (20.3%). Associations were found with attention, affective and anxiety problems (P < 0.001) in the participants who took longer to respond to the EMA app. Anxious and depressive states were highly interrelated (rho = 0.51, P < 0.001), as well as oppositional defiant problems and conduct problems (rho = 0.56, P < 0.001). Only in 6.2% of the situations the subjects perceived they had problems, mainly associated with inter-relational aspects with family, peers, boyfriends or girlfriends (31.2%). We also found moderate-high reliability on scales of satisfaction level on the context, on positive emotionality, and on the discomfort index associated with mental health problems. CONCLUSION: EMA methodology using smartphones is a useful tool for understanding adolescents' daily dynamics. It achieved moderate-high reliability and accurately identified psychopathological manifestations experienced by community adolescents in their natural context.