Ecological Momentary Assessment with smartphones for measuring mental health problems in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Ernesto Magallón-Neri, Teresa Kirchner-Nebot, Maria Forns-Santacana, Institute of Research in Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3c), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Ernesto
E
Magallón-Neri
Ernesto Magallón-Neri, Teresa Kirchner-Nebot, Maria Forns-Santacana, Institute of Research in Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3c), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Teresa
T
Kirchner-Nebot
Ernesto Magallón-Neri, Teresa Kirchner-Nebot, Maria Forns-Santacana, Institute of Research in Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3c), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Maria
M
Forns-Santacana
Ernesto Magallón-Neri, Teresa Kirchner-Nebot, Maria Forns-Santacana, Institute of Research in Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3c), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Caterina
C
Calderón
Ernesto Magallón-Neri, Teresa Kirchner-Nebot, Maria Forns-Santacana, Institute of Research in Brain, Cognition and Behavior (IR3c), 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
Irina
I
Planellas
Adolescents; Coping; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Mental health problems; Smartphone
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