title: The Effect of Timing and Frequency of Push Notifications on Usage of a Smartphone-Based Stress Management Intervention: An Exploratory Trial.
abstract: Push notifications offer a promising strategy for enhancing engagement with smartphone-based health interventions. Intelligent sensor-driven machine learning models may improve the timeliness of notifications by adapting delivery to a user's current context (e.g. location). This exploratory mixed-methods study examined the potential impact of timing and frequency on notification response and usage of Healthy Mind, a smartphone-based stress management intervention. 77 participants were randomised to use one of three versions of Healthy Mind that provided: intelligent notifications; daily notifications within pre-defined time frames; or occasional notifications within pre-defined time frames. Notification response and Healthy Mind usage were automatically recorded. Telephone interviews explored participants' experiences of using Healthy Mind. Participants in the intelligent and daily conditions viewed (d = .47, .44 respectively) and actioned (d = .50, .43 respectively) more notifications compared to the occasional group. Notification group had no meaningful effects on percentage of notifications viewed or usage of Healthy Mind. No meaningful differences were indicated between the intelligent and non-intelligent groups. Our findings suggest that frequent notifications may encourage greater exposure to intervention content without deterring engagement, but adaptive tailoring of notification timing does not always enhance their use. Hypotheses generated from this study require testing in future work.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ISRCTN67177737.
authors.affiliation: Psychology, Faculty of Social, Human, and Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.|Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Leanne G
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9961-551X
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Department of Creative Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Charlie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hargood
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Veljko
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pejovic
authors.affiliation: Primary Care and Population Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Adam W A
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Geraghty
authors.affiliation: Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Redcar, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.|Health and Social Care Institute, School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley, United Kingdom.|Fuse, Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom.|Centre for Public Policy and Health, School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, Stockton on Tees, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.affiliation: Gateshead Council, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Danius T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Michaelides
authors.affiliation: Department of Creative Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musolesi
authors.affiliation: Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Weal
authors.affiliation: Psychology, Faculty of Social, Human, and Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yardley
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001331:Automation; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D000069550:Machine Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011634:Public Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D000068997:Smartphone; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods; D060145:Text Messaging; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult