Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Oct 11, 2023
Date Accepted: Jan 18, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Digital Phenotyping of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI): Study Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major global health concern. Recognizing the limitations of traditional clinical and laboratory-based methodologies, there is a pressing need to employ a novel approaches for early detection and prevention of NSSI. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of basic knowledge regarding the descriptive nature of NSSI, including when, how, and why self-injury occurs in everyday life. Digital phenotyping offers the potential to predict and prevent NSSI life by assessing objective and ecological measurements at multiple points in time.
Objective:
This study aims to identify real-time predictors and explain an individual's dynamic course of NSSI.
Methods:
This study will utilize a hybrid approach, combining elements of prospective observational research with non-face-to-face study methods. This study aims to recruit a cohort of 150 adults in their twenties who have self-reported engaging in NSSI on five or more days within the past year. Participants will be enrolled in a longitudinal study conducted three-month intervals, spanning three long-term follow-up phases. The Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) will be conducted via a smartphone application. Participants will be prompted to complete the Self-Injury & Suicidality Questionnaire and the Mood Appraisal Questionnaire three times a day for a duration of 14 days. Wrist-worn wearable device will be used to collect heart rate, step count, and sleep patterns from participants. Multilevel modeling and Machine learning approaches will be utilized.
Results:
Participant recruitment and data collection will start in October 2023. Data collection and analyses are expected to completed by December 2024. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at scientific conferences.
Conclusions:
The insights gained from this study will not only shed light on the underlying mechanisms of NSSI but also pave the way for the development of tailored and culturally sensitive treatment options that can effectively address this major mental health concern.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.