Abstract
This study examined the feasibility and effectiveness of an interactive smartphone application that aimed to improve daily-life social functioning and symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ) with Experience Sampling Method (ESM) derived personalised feedback.Two groups of outpatients with a diagnosis of SZ were included (one receiving ESM-derived personalised feedback (n = 27) and one without feedback (n = 23)) and used the interactive smartphone application for three weeks. Main outcomes were momentary symptoms and social functioning, as assessed by ESM questionnaires. Additionally, feasibility and user-friendliness of the application were assessed. The response rate was 64% for the ESM questionnaires. In the feedback group, participants indicated that on 49% of the ESM days they acted on at least one personalised feedback prompt per day. Momentary psychotic symptoms significantly decreased over time only in the feedback group. Momentary loneliness and questionnaire-assessed psychotic symptoms decreased over time, irrespective of feedback. Participants evaluated the app as user-friendly and understandable. Momentary personalised feedback may impact momentary psychosis in daily life. Feelings of loneliness and questionnaire-based measured psychotic symptoms may be more responsive to non-specific effects of daily-life self-monitoring, not requiring specific feedback. Ecological momentary interventions offer opportunities for accessible and effective interventions in SZ.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 112695 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Psychiatry Research |
| Volume | 284 |
| Early online date | 28 Nov 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2020 |
Funding
We would like to express our gratitude to all patients for providing valuable feedback during application development and study participation. We would like to thank Simpel for providing us with five smartphones including a 1GB, unrestricted calling and texting data plans in support of this research. We would like to thank Catherine van Zelst for providing feedback on the study concept. We are grateful for Natalie Castien, Suzanne Robberegt, Christi-Janne van As, Marlie Eemers, Niels den Daas and Reena Luijten for data collection and project support. This work was supported by funding of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) VENI grant ( 451-13-035 ) and a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behaviour Research Foundation ( 24138 ) to Anne-Kathrin Fett. The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Brain & Behaviour Research Foundation | 24138 |
| Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research | |
| VENI | |
| National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 451-13-035 |
Keywords
- Experience sampling method
- Intervention
- Mobile health
- Psychoses
- Social contact
- Treatment