Anxiety Disorders, Depression Disorders, Eating Disorders, Loneliness, Mood, Physical Activity, Sleep, Stress
Conditions
Keywords
digital health, digital mental health, technology impacts on mental health, digital natives, digital parenthood, child online safety, digital wellness, child online well-being
Brief summary
The goal of this study is to understand how children's mobile device usage (smartphones or tablets), including social media use and online games, are related to their mental wellness and mental health, as well as some aspects of their physical activity and sleep. This study is available to all children between the ages of 8 and 17 years and a parent/caregiver. Researchers will compare participant mobile device usage with their survey responses on sleep, stress, mental health, and physical activity, as well as their parent/caregiver's survey responses. Participants will: * run the Aura app with parental controls on their dedicated mobile device * complete monthly surveys * answer daily questions on mood, stress, sleep and physical activity The study is fully virtual. Duration is 3 months.
Detailed description
Once enrolled, child participants will use their mobile devices as usual, and Aura will collect data on on-line and off-line activity, app usage, social interaction, sleep, location and activity levels. The child participant will complete surveys on a monthly basis, including: * A range of questionnaires about feelings and behaviors that are associated with mental health challenges * Questionnaires that ask about well-being and positive feelings, including relationships with family and friends * Questionnaires that ask about experiences with social media and device usage * A questionnaire about feelings of loneliness * A questionnaire that asks about activity sleep In parallel, the parent participant will complete monthly surveys about the child, including: * Medical history and changes * A range of questionnaires about feelings and behaviors that are associated with mental health challenges * Questionnaires that ask about well-being and positive feelings, including relationships with family and friends
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Aura
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
8 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. Child participants are male, female, non-binary persons, ages 8-17, inclusive 2. Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian willing to provide informed consent; child willing to provide assent 3. Both Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child own a mobile device that already has the Aura app or is able to install and run the Aura app, and the appropriate parental control features. 4. Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child are willing for child to use a dedicated device for the duration of the study (ie., child cannot share device with a sibling or other family member). 5. Multiple children from the same family are eligible to participate, provided that each enrolled child uses a dedicated device AND is able to complete outcome assessments independently, AND that parent/authorized legal guardian is able to complete assessments for each enrolled child. 6. Both Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child willing to share data collected as part of the Aura app and related device applications 7. Consented Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child maintain active Aura accounts throughout their study participation 8. Consented Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child are able to follow written and verbal instructions (English) as assessed by the PI and/or study coordinator 9. Consented Parent/Authorized Legal Guardian and child are to comply with all testing and study requirements
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Assess ongoing technology use to explore children's online behaviors and derived health behaviors. | December 2025 | Assess ongoing technology use via the Aura app, including social media and other online behaviors, as well as other smartphone derived health behaviors, such as sleep, location, and activity levels. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Examine bivariate associations between technology use features and mental wellness and mental health outcomes | December 2025 | Given the wide range of variables that can be derived from the Aura app, and the number of assessments that will be collected, all analyses should be considered exploratory. As an initial exploration of this objective, we will conduct simple bivariate analyses between technology use variables and mental health outcomes. Example questions include: * Are the temporal patterns of device usage (eg., more evening or late-night use) associated with sleep or physical activity outcome measures? * Does digital stress mediate the relationship between device usage and mental health outcomes? |
| Develop preliminary predictive models that use technology use and smartphone-derived parameters to predict point-in-time mental health outcomes | December 2025 | Develop preliminary predictive models that use technology use and smartphone-derived parameters to predict point-in-time mental health outcomes, as well as change over time. A wide range of analytic techniques will be used to develop and evaluate predictive models to determine whether mental health related outcomes and their change over time can be reliably predicted from device usage data. Example prediction models that may be evaluated but are not limited to the following: Do patterns/changes in device-mediated social interactions predict presence/severity of loneliness? Are there specific patterns of keyboard data (specific search terms, text messaging sentiment, etc.) that predict changes in mood or anxiety outcomes? Related, do patterns of keyboard activity map onto daily ratings of mood/stress/anxiety? Can patterns of device usage predict changes in health care utilization over time? |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORScott Kollins, Doctorate in Psychology
Aura
Outcome results
None listed