Trial reportBMJ open2021
Influence of ecological momentary assessment study design features on reported willingness to participate and perceptions of potential research studies: an experimental study.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Readdressing the Ongoing Challenge of Missing Data in Youth Ecological Momentary Assessment Studies: Meta-Analysis Update.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Study Features and Response Compliance in Ecological Momentary Assessment Research in Borderline Personality Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Ecological momentary assessment of mind-wandering: meta-analysis and systematic review.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- The same, only different: Smartphone-based dietary Ecological Momentary Assessment tools vary in complexity, usability and active information processing.British journal of health psychology · 2026Trial
- A preliminary randomized trial of reinforcement contingencies to improve compliance with ecological momentary assessment.Translational behavioral medicine · 2024Trial
- Balancing burden and resolution: Effects of EMA survey schedule on compliance and study evaluation in suicide-focused research.Journal of psychiatric research · 2026Article
- Using smartphone surveys to predict next-week suicide attempts.Journal of psychopathology and clinical science · 2026Article
- Automated Daily Phone Surveys in Older Adults: Feasibility Study in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Article
- Real-Time Type 1 Diabetes Self-Management Decision-Making in Adolescents: Protocol for a Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study Using Text Messaging and Continuous Glucose Monitoring.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Examining the effectiveness of financial vs. social incentives to participate in a smartphone ecological momentary assessment well-being study: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Development of an Ecological Momentary Assessment Study to Identify Real-Time Predictors of Physical Activity Among Older People With HIV: Protocol for a 2-Phase Mixed Methods Study.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Review
- Patients and Communities Shape Regional Health Research Priorities: A Participatory Study from South Tyrol, Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Engagement in Ecological Momentary Assessment of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: A Mixed Methods Study.Behavior therapy · 2025Article
- [Citizens as public health sentinels: understanding study participation in an adaptive and context-sensitive real-time cohort study during times of crisis].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Article
- Digital citizen science for ethical monitoring of youth physical activity frequency: Comparing mobile ecological prospective assessments and retrospective recall.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Feasibility and usability of microinteraction ecological momentary assessment using a smartwatch in military personnel with a history of traumatic brain injury.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Innovative and ecological: integrating ecological momentary assessment into environmental science research.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Ask Less, Learn More: Adapting Ecological Momentary Assessment Survey Length by Modeling Question-Answer Information Gain.Proceedings of the ACM on interactive, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous technologies · 2024Article
- Older adults' compliance with mobile ecological momentary assessments in behavioral nutrition and physical activity research: pooled results of four intensive longitudinal studies and recommendations for future research.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveIntensive ambulatory assessment, such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), is increasingly used to capture naturalistic patient-reported outcomes. EMA design features (eg, study duration, prompt frequency) vary widely between studies, but it is not known if such design decisions influence potential subjects' willingness to participate in a study. We hypothesise that intentions to participate will be higher in studies that are less burdensome and have higher reward (eg, compensation).
designThis experimental study examined if four EMA study design features (study duration, prompt frequency, prompt length, compensation) affected intentions to participate in a hypothetical EMA study and participation appraisals (eg, participation effort). Participants were randomly assigned to conditions (reflecting a fully crossed design of the four features, each with two levels). Each condition presented a vignette describing a study (each a unique combination of design features) and asked them to report on likelihood of participating and study appraisals.
participantsA convenience sample of participants (n=600; 46% female, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were willingness to participate (No/Yes) and reported participation likelihood (0-100 scale). Secondary outcomes included appraisals of interest, enjoyment, effort, and if the study makes a valuable contribution to science.
resultsWe examined main effects, and two-way interactions for participation likelihood, across study design features. Overall, reported willingness to participate and participation likelihood were high (89%,
conclusionHypotheses were generally supported. Design features influence behavioural intentions to participate in, and appraisals of, EMA studies. Implications for participant recruitment and generalisability, and remaining research questions, are discussed.
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Registered trials
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