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Mental health, loneliness, everyday behaviours and technology use during COVID-19
Mental health, loneliness, everyday behaviours and technology use during COVID-19
Data collection for this study has now closed - thank you to all of our participants.
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected social connectedness and mental health around the world. Yet loneliness and associated mental health problems were increasing globally even before COVID-19-related social distancing measures were put in place. The Cambridge Mind-App (CaM-App) study aims to understand how social distancing measures are impacting mental health and loneliness of adolescents and adults and whether certain behaviours and activities prevent or reduce this impact. The study is being led by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Donders Institute in the Netherlands. The project is funded by the Jacobs Foundation and has received ethical approval from the University of Cambridge Research Ethics Committee (Project ID number: PRE.2020.048).
The CaM-App study will use an innovative smartphone app to measure loneliness, mental health and behaviour in a way that has participant privacy at its heart. Each participant in the study will download a tried-and-tested smartphone app, which will collect anonymised data from their phones about what apps are being used (e.g. social media use, news consumption, gaming), physical activity (e.g. duration of light/moderate/intense exercise) and sleep. In addition, the study will collect questionnaire data to understand changes in mood and mental health. Measuring changes in mental health and linking these to different behaviours and types of technology use will allow us to identify habits and behaviours that help mitigate the impact of loneliness on mental health during periods of social distancing. Furthermore, the smartphone data will help identify technology uses that may harm or benefit mental health in different age groups. The knowledge gained from the study will have wide-reaching implications and potential impact on policy and practice.
"I started to feel different after my local government issued a stay in home order. I felt trapped, anxious... I realized that I couldn’t let this pandemic get the best of me. I started exercising twice a day, making music, studying, and had virtual parties with my friends." (Ibrahim, 18 years old, USA)
"Covid has been tough. Lockdown took time away from friends and that was hard, but it did give us more time as a family and for that I am grateful. Not being able to see extended family abroad, especially grandparents is sad and I can't wait for the day the world opens up again." (Sarah, 14 years old, Singapore)
“My formula has been to read and write what makes me feel bad. On many occasions, I have cried. I have tried to distract myself by drawing or watching series. The covid-19 has changed me a lot, I don´t even recognize myself.” (Rosa, 14 years old, Guatemala)
“I feel like what matters to me the most right now is my friends. COVID stopped me from being able to say proper goodbyes last year and impacted what we can do together socially throughout the year. I think the school has done a good job trying to keep things normal for us but wearing a mask all day is exhausting.” (Ryan, 15 years old, Singapore)
More information about the app:
The app used in the study is called EARS and was developed by Ksana Health (https://www.ksanahealth.com/), an organisation founded by Professor Nick Allen at the University of Oregon to provide digital products and services to improve mental health care and research. The app is GDPR-compliant, gamified and uses the sensors already gathering data in smartphones to record anonymised data about time spent online, movement and sleep. The EARS app has already been used and improved by many leading research groups in the USA and Europe. Ksana Health privacy policy is available to view here.
The data collected by the app is anonymised and secured by a specialised data team. The study collects as little data as possible to answer the important research questions. Importantly, the app does not store any passwords, GPS coordinates, websites visited, phone numbers called, typed text, names of people participants text, voice notes, recordings, pictures or videos.
"I felt quite lonely when we were doing online learning because I was not at school, I missed interacting with my classmates and I really missed socializing with my friends." (Aggelos, 12 years old, Singapore)
Relevant Papers:
Orben, A*, Tomova, L* & Blakemore, S-J. (2020). The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4(8), 634-640. *Joint first authors. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30186-3
Mental Health support providers
Mental Health charity that promotes positive wellbeing across the UK and campaign against stigma & discrimination faced by so many people experiencing mental Health challenges.
YoungMinds is the UK's leading charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. YoungMinds creates change so that children and young people can cope with life's adversities, find help when needed, and succeed in life.
Being a Samaritan means being there for people who need someone to listen. They give people ways to cope and the skills to be there for others. They encourage, promote and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives.
If you are having a mental health crisis and in the UK, please call 111 and press option 2 for the First Response Service – a 24-hour service for people in mental health crisis.
Who can participate:
Individuals aged 12 and above in the UK or USA, who speak English and regularly use an iPhone or Android device.
Individuals aged 12-18 years in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, Croatia, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria, Luxembourg or Italy, who speak English and regularly use an iPhone or Android device.
What participants need to do:
Read an information sheet that provides details about the study, including information about every participant’s right to stop taking part at any point in the study without giving a reason.
Sign an informed consent form if the participant is 18 or over.
Sign an assent form if the participant is under 18 years, and ask their parent/guardian/caregiver to sign a consent form.
Complete an online questionnaire to provide information on demographics and general health (completed on a secure online research platform).
Download the CaM-App study app, leave it running in the background on their phone, and keep using their smartphone as usual for the duration of the study (approximately 8 weeks).
This study does not require participants to have their phones on them and switched on at all times.
Answer some short questions about their mood and social interaction once a day on the app.
Fill in additional questionnaires once a week that provide in-depth information about their behaviour and mental health (completed on a secure online research platform).
Answer a couple of extra questions on the app (up to seven times the day), on a small number of randomly selected days throughout the study period.
If participants agree to follow-up studies, they may be asked to fill in some follow-up questionnaires for up to 6 months after the study.
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