Institute for Social Research.
Department of Statistics.
Health Psychol. 2021 Dec;40(12):974-987. doi: 10.1037/hea0001101. Epub 2021 Nov 4.
Mobile technologies allow for accessible and cost-effective health monitoring and intervention delivery. Despite these advantages, mobile health (mHealth) engagement is often insufficient. While monetary incentives may increase engagement, they can backfire, dampening intrinsic motivations and undermining intervention scalability. Theories from psychology and behavioral economics suggest useful nonmonetary strategies for promoting engagement; however, examinations of the applicability of these strategies to mHealth engagement are lacking. This proof-of-concept study evaluates the translation of theoretically-grounded engagement strategies into mHealth, by testing their potential utility in promoting daily self-reporting.
A microrandomized trial (MRT) was conducted with adolescents and emerging adults with past-month substance use. Participants were randomized multiple times daily to receive theoretically-grounded strategies, namely reciprocity (the delivery of inspirational quote prior to self-reporting window) and nonmonetary reinforcers (e.g., the delivery of meme/gif following self-reporting completion) to improve proximal engagement in daily mHealth self-reporting.
Daily self-reporting rates (62.3%; = 68) were slightly lower than prior literature, albeit with much lower financial incentives. The utility of specific strategies was found to depend on contextual factors pertaining to the individual's receptivity and risk for disengagement. For example, the effect of reciprocity significantly varied depending on whether this strategy was employed (vs. not employed) during the weekend. The nonmonetary reinforcement strategy resulted in different outcomes when operationalized in various ways.
While the results support the translation of the reciprocity strategy into this mHealth setting, the translation of nonmonetary reinforcement requires further consideration prior to inclusion in a full scale MRT. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
移动技术可以实现便捷、经济的健康监测和干预措施的实施。尽管具有这些优势，但移动医疗（mHealth）的参与度通常仍然不足。虽然金钱激励可能会提高参与度，但它们也可能适得其反，抑制内在动机并破坏干预措施的可扩展性。心理学和行为经济学的理论为促进参与度提供了有用的非金钱策略；然而，这些策略在 mHealth 参与度方面的适用性的检验仍有所欠缺。本概念验证研究通过测试这些策略在促进日常自我报告方面的潜在效用，评估了将基于理论的参与策略转化为 mHealth 的情况。
对过去一个月有物质使用史的青少年和新兴成年人进行了微随机试验（MRT）。参与者每天多次随机接受基于理论的策略，即互惠（在自我报告窗口之前发送鼓舞人心的引语）和非金钱奖励（例如，在自我报告完成后发送模因/动图），以提高日常 mHealth 自我报告的近期参与度。
每日自我报告率（62.3%；n=68）略低于先前的文献，尽管所提供的金钱激励要低得多。具体策略的效用被发现取决于与个人易感性和脱离风险相关的情境因素。例如，互惠策略的效果取决于该策略是否在周末实施（与不实施相比）。非金钱奖励策略的实施方式不同，结果也不同。
尽管结果支持将互惠策略转化为这种 mHealth 环境，但在将非金钱奖励纳入全面 MRT 之前，需要进一步考虑其转化。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2022 APA，保留所有权利）。
