This commentary addresses the challenges in identifying consistent moderators and mediators of psychological treatments for eating disorders (EDs), as highlighted by McClure et al. (
A Review on Strategies for Data Collection, Reflection, and Communication in Eating Disorder Apps
Eating disorders (EDs) constitute a mental illness with the highest mortality. Today, mobile health apps provide promising means to ED patients for managing their condition. Apps enable users to monitor their eating habits, thoughts, and feelings, and offer analytic insights for behavior change. However, not only have scholars critiqued the clinical validity of these apps, their underlying design principles are not well understood. Through a review of 34 ED apps, we uncovered 11 different data types ED apps collect, and 9 strategies they employ to support collection and reflection. Drawing upon personal health informatics and visualization frameworks, we found that most apps did not adhere to best practices on what and how data should be collected from and reflected to users, or how data-driven insights should be communicated. Our review offers suggestions for improving the design of ED apps such that they can be useful and meaningful in ED recovery.
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- PAR ID:
- 10310260
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract International Journal of Eating Disorders , 2023) in their systematic review. Specifically, we discuss the often‐overlooked importance of temporal context (when an intervention is delivered), alongside sociodemographic and symptom type (for whom an intervention is delivered), in understanding and optimizing treatment engagement and effectiveness. We outline how individuals' fluctuating levels of motivation and receptivity across different “pivotal moments” in the help‐seeking process—including initial outreach and self‐screening, ongoing care engagement, and post‐discharge—can dynamically impact interventions' relevance and impacts. We also overview how Just‐In‐Time Adaptive Interventions in digital mental health interventions can be harnessed to simultaneously consider “when” and “for whom” ED interventions can exert the greatest benefits. We conclude with several recommendations for conducting ED intervention and implementation research that integrate timing into support delivery and study design, enabling a deeper understanding of not just how and for whom, but when, ED interventions can be most effective. -
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445670
