INTERVENTIONS ON SMARTPHONE

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this line of research is to improve access to psychological assessment and intervention procedures, increasing the number of people who can benefit from these procedures. It is one of the most innovative lines of our laboratory.

The use of APPs represents an important change in the way of assessing and intervening in psychology. The traditional way of assessment is retrospective, e.g., the person fills out a questionnaire about his or her emotions or other symptoms during the past week. Also, the way of administering therapy also involves a time lapse. The person receives a therapy session and applies what he or she has learned on his or her own in the natural environment. With the use of APPs it is possible to assess at the very moment the person is having symptoms (e.g., by receiving a notification on the cell phone asking how intense the sadness is now). We can also provide psychological interventions at the moment, when the person needs it (e.g., depending on the sadness I feel, the APP can give me instructions on how to decrease its intensity with a psychological strategy).

SINCE

2014

RELEVANT MILESTONES AND APPLICATIONS

Our line started with an important paper (Garcia-Palacios et al., 2014. Eur J Pain:6, 862-72) in which we demonstrated that momentary pain assessment using an APP was more accurate than traditional retrospective assessment.

From there we began to explore ecological momentary assessment (EMA) by developing different APPs (with intellectual property registration). The use of EMA in chronic pain significantly improved the care of people with this condition in natural settings (Pain Unit in public hospital).

The next step was to develop APPs not only for assessment, but for ecological momentary intervention (EMI). We have participated in the Horizon 2020 Ecoweb project, in which MyMoodCoach APP was developed for the prevention of depression in young Europeans (3800 young people from Germany, Belgium, Spain and UK have participated) https://www.ecowebproject.eu/. We also participated in a Marie Curie Innovative Training Network action, AFFECTECH, training researchers in the use of EMA and EMI technology. We are developing and testing in controlled clinical trials an APP with EMI to reduce stress and burden in health personnel (funded by Generalitat Valenciana) and another APP to support an intervention to reduce self-harm in young people (funded by Fundació Marató TV3).

PUBLICATIONS, AWARDS AND OTHER RELEVANT ASPECTS TO BE HIGHLIGHTED

Projects:

  • ECoWeB. Assessment and improvement of emotional competence for well-being in young people. Ref: 754657. Funded by the European Commission. H2020 Research and Innovation Program. Duration: 4 years (2018-2021). PI: Cristina Botella. Coordinator Ed Watkins, Exeter University UK https://www.ecowebproject.eu/
  • AFFECTECH – Personal technologies for affective health. Ref: 722022. Funded by the European Commission H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. Duration: 4 years (2017-2020). Coordinator: Corina Sas. Lancaster University. UNITED KINGDOM
  • Design and analysis of the effectiveness of a brief mobile App-based intervention for non-suicidal self-harm: Self-report, momentary and biological predictors of treatment outcomes. Ref 508/U72022. Fundació La Marató de TV3-Conv 2021. Duration: March 2023-March 2026 (3 years).

Publications:

  1. García Palacios, A., Herrero, R., Belmonte, M. A., Castilla, D., Guixeres, J., Molinari, G., Baños, R. M., Botella, C. (2014). Ecological momentary assessment for chronic pain in fibromyalgia using a smartphone: A randomized crossover study. European Journal of Pain, 6, 862-872. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1532-2149.2013.00425.x .
  2. Suso-Ribera, C., Castilla, D., Zaragoza, I., Ribera-Canudas, M. V., Botella, C., Garcia-Palacios, A. (2018). Validity, reliability, feasibility, and usefulness of Pain Monitor. A multidimensional smartphone App for daily monitoring of adults with heterogenous chronic pain. Clinical Journal of Pain, 34, 900-908. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000618
  3. Colombo, D., Fernandez-Alvarez, J., Patane, A., Semonella, M., Kwiatkowska, M., Garcia-Palacios, a., Cipresso, P., riva, G., Botella, c. (2019). Current State and future directions of technology-based ecological momentary assessment and intervention for major depressive disorder: A systematic review. Journal of clinical Medicine, 8(4):465. doi: 10.3390/jcm8040465.
  4. Suso-Ribera, C., Castilla, D., Zaragoza, I., Mesas, A., Server, A., Medel, J., Garcia-Palacios, A., (2020). Telemonitoring in chronic pain management using Smartphone apps: A randomized controlled trial comparing usual assessment against app-based monitoring with and without clinical alarms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(18):6568. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186568.
  5. Castilla, D., Navarro-Haro, M.V., Suso-Ribera, C., Diaz-Garcia, A., Zaragoza, I., Garcia-Palacios, A. (2022). Ecological momentary intervention to enhance emotion regulation in healthcare workers via smartphone: a randomized controlled trial protocol. BMC Psychiatry 22, 164 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03800-x
  6. Watkins, E. Warren, F. C., Newbold, A., Botella, C., Ehring, T., Garcia Palacios, A., et al. (2024). Emotional competence self-help app versus cognitive behavioural self-help app versus self-monitoring app to prevent depression in young adults with elevated risk (ECoWeB PREVENT): an international, multicentre, parallel, open-label, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Digital Health, 6(12), e894 – e903. DOI: 10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00148-1
  7. Watkins, E., Warren, F. C., Newbold, A., Botella, C., Ehring, T., Garcia Palacios, A., et al. (2024). Emotional competence self-help mobile phone app versus cognitive behavioural self-help app versus self-monitoring app to promote mental wellbeing in healthy young adults (ECoWeB PROMOTE): an international, multicentre, parallel, open-label, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Digital Health, 6(12),  e904 – e913.  DOI: 10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00149-3

Intellectual property registrations:

  • Pain Monitor
  • Multicenter Pain Monitor
  • Pain Monitor-Professional Web
  • Pain Study
  • DOLORTIC.COM

Awards:

  • “Best Medicine APP” Award 2018. III Digital Health Awards. Mediforum. Pain Monitor.