Kaplan Deanna M, Alvarez Santiago J Arconada, Palitsky Roman, Choi Hyoann, Clifford Gari D, Crozier Melese, Dunlop Boadie W, Grant George H, Greenleaf Morgan N, Johnson Leslie M, Maples-Keller Jessica, Levin-Aspenson Holly F, Mascaro Jennifer S, McDowall Ariel, Pozzo Nicole S, Raison Charles L, Zarrabi Ali John, Rothbaum Barbara O, Lam Wilbur A
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Department of Spiritual Health, Woodruff Health Sciences Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Behav Res Methods. 2025 Aug 13;57(9):257. doi: 10.3758/s13428-025-02777-1.
This article reports on the validation of Fabla, a researcher-developed and university-hosted smartphone app that facilitates naturalistic and secure collection of participants' spoken responses to researcher questions. Fabla was developed to meet the need for tools that (a) collect longitudinal qualitative data and (b) capture speech biomarkers from participants' natural environments. This study put Fabla to its first empirical test using a repeated-measures experimental design in which participants (n = 87) completed a 1-week voice daily diary via the Fabla app, and an identical 1-week text-entry daily diary administered via Qualtrics, with diary method order counterbalanced and randomized. A preregistered analysis plan investigated (1) adherence, usability, and acceptability of Fabla, (2) concurrent validity of voice diaries (vs. text-entry diaries) by comparing linguistic features obtained via each diary method, and (3) differences in the strength of the association between linguistic features and their known psychological correlates when assessed by voice versus text-entry diary. Voice diaries yielded more than double the mean daily language volume (word count) compared to text-entry diaries and received high usability and acceptability ratings. Linguistic markers consistently associated with depression in prior research were significantly associated with depression symptoms when assessed via voice but not text-entry diaries, and the difference in correlation magnitude was significant. Word-count-adjusted linguistic patterns were highly correlated between diary methods, with statistically significant mean differences observed for some linguistic dimensions in the presence of these associations. Fabla is a promising tool for collecting high-quality speech data from participants' naturalistic environments, overcoming multiple limitations of text-entry responding.
本文报道了Fabla的验证情况，Fabla是一款由研究人员开发并由大学提供支持的智能手机应用程序，它有助于自然且安全地收集参与者对研究人员问题的口头回答。开发Fabla是为了满足对以下工具的需求：（a）收集纵向定性数据，以及（b）从参与者的自然环境中获取语音生物标志物。本研究采用重复测量实验设计对Fabla进行了首次实证检验，其中参与者（n = 87）通过Fabla应用程序完成了为期1周的语音每日日记，并通过Qualtrics完成了相同的为期1周的文本输入每日日记，日记方法的顺序进行了平衡和随机化。一项预先注册的分析计划调查了：（1）Fabla的依从性、可用性和可接受性；（2）通过比较每种日记方法获得的语言特征，语音日记（与文本输入日记相比）的同时效度；以及（3）通过语音与文本输入日记评估时，语言特征与其已知心理关联之间的关联强度差异。与文本输入日记相比，语音日记的平均每日语言量（单词数）多出一倍以上，并且获得了较高的可用性和可接受性评分。在先前研究中一直与抑郁症相关的语言标记，通过语音日记评估时与抑郁症状显著相关，但通过文本输入日记评估时则不然，且相关程度的差异具有显著性。在日记方法之间，经过单词数调整的语言模式高度相关，在存在这些关联的情况下，在某些语言维度上观察到了具有统计学意义的平均差异。Fabla是一种很有前景的工具，可用于从参与者的自然环境中收集高质量的语音数据，克服了文本输入回答的多种局限性。
