Compliance and Retention With the Experience Sampling Method Over the Continuum of Severe Mental Disorders: Meta-Analysis and Recommendations.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Despite the growing interest in the experience sampling method (ESM) as a data collection tool for mental health research, the absence of methodological guidelines related to its use has resulted in a large heterogeneity of designs. Concomitantly, the potential effects of the design on the response behavior of the participants remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE:The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the associations between various sample and design characteristics and the compliance and retention rates of studies using ESM in mental health research. METHODS:ESM studies investigating major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and psychotic disorder were considered for inclusion. Besides the compliance and retention rates, a number of sample and design characteristics of the selected studies were collected to assess their potential relationships with the compliance and retention rates. Multilevel random/mixed effects models were used for the analyses. RESULTS:Compliance and retention rates were lower for studies with a higher proportion of male participants (P<.001) and individuals with a psychotic disorder (P<.001). Compliance was positively associated with the use of a fixed sampling scheme (P=.02), higher incentives (P=.03), higher time intervals between successive evaluations (P=.02), and fewer evaluations per day (P=.008), while no significant associations were observed with regard to the mean age of the sample, the study duration, or other design characteristics. CONCLUSIONS:The findings demonstrate that ESM studies can be carried out in mental health research, but the quality of the data collection depends upon a number of factors related to the design of ESM studies and the samples under study that need to be considered when designing such protocols.
SUBMITTER: Vachon H
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6925392 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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