Examining Stress and Residual Symptoms in Remitted and Partially Remitted Depression Using a Wearable Electrodermal Activity Device: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: Consistent evidence suggests residual symptoms and stress are the most reliable predictors of relapse in remitted depression. Prevailing methodologies often do not enable continuous real-time sampling of stress. Thus, little is known about day-to-day interactions between residual symptoms and stress in remitted depression. In preparation for a full-scale trial, this study aimed to pilot a wrist-worn wearable electrodermal activity monitor: ADI (Analog Devices, Inc.) Study Watch for assessing interactions between physiological stress and residual depressive symptoms following depression remission. Methods: 13 individuals remitted from major depression completed baseline, daily diary, and post-daily diary assessments. Self-reported stress and residual symptoms were measured at baseline and post-daily diary. Diary assessments required participants to wear ADI's Study Watch during waking hours and complete self-report questionnaires every evening over one week. Results: Sleep problems, fatigue, energy loss, and agitation were the most frequently reported residual symptoms. Average skin conductance responses (SCRs) were 16.09 per-hour, with an average of 11.30 hours of wear time per-day. Increased residual symptoms were associated with enhanced self-reported stress on the same day. Increased SCRs on one day predicted increased residual symptoms on the next day. Conclusion: This study showed a wearable electrodermal activity device can be recommended for examining stress as a predictor of remitted depression. This study also provides preliminary work on relationships between residual symptoms and stress in remitted depression. Importantly, significant findings from the small sample of this pilot are preliminary with an aim to follow up with a 3-week full-scale study to draw conclusions about psychological processes explored.

Acceptance of digital phenotyping linked to a digital pill system to measure PrEP adherence among men who have sex with men with substance use

“…Using DPS technology to better understand the contextual basis of PrEP adherence and nonadherence may help provide support to individuals who struggle with PrEP adherence at key junctures of risk. The emerging use of wearable devices and collection of smartphonebased digital phenotyping data may provide insight into key events where nonadherence is likely and the delivery of proactive, personalized adherence support may mitigate nonadherence [22][23][24][25]. Contrary to perceptions that individuals with substance use may be less accepting of the collection of personal data via mobile devices and other systems, the degree of substance use in our subsample was not associated the willingness of MSM on PrEP to interact with ancillary devices or text message-based queries to contextualize DPS-detected adherence data.…”

Wearable Solutions for Stress Monitoring for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Systematic Literature Review

“…Table 2 shows a summary of published research on wearable solutions for stress monitoring. Therefore, other studies were focused on individuals without ASD, where used commercial devices such as Polar H7 chest strap and wrist-worn Fitbit Charge 2 [51], E4 by Empatica [52], ADI study watch [53], Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S2 and Polar OH1 [54].…”