Developing smartphone apps for behavioural studies: The AlcoRisk app case study

Smartphone apps have emerged as valuable research tools to sample human behaviours at their time of occurrence within natural environments. Human behaviour sampling methods, such as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), aim to facilitate research that is situated in ecologically valid real world environments rather than laboratory environments. Researchers have trialled a range of EMA smartphone apps to sample human behaviours such as dieting, physical activity and smoking. Software development processes for EMA smartphones apps, however, are not widely documented with little guidance provided for the integration of complex multidisciplinary behavioural and technical fields. In this paper, the AlcoRisk app for studying alcohol consumption and risk taking tendencies is presented alongside a software development process that integrates these multidisciplinary fields. The software development process consists of three stages including requirements analysis, feature and interface design followed by app implementation. Results from a preliminary feasibility study support the efficacy of the AlcoRisk app's software development process.

[1]  S. Shiffman,et al.  Patient compliance with paper and electronic diaries. , 2003, Controlled clinical trials.

[2]  Stewart J. Anderson,et al.  Smoking Patterns and Stimulus Control in Intermittent and Daily Smokers , 2014, PloS one.

[3]  S. Shiffman,et al.  Ecological momentary assessment. , 2008, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[4]  Kieran Coyle,et al.  Alcohol hangover effects on measures of affect the morning after a normal night's drinking. , 2006, Alcohol and alcoholism.

[5]  Katarzyna Wac,et al.  Getting closer: an empirical investigation of the proximity of user to their smart phones , 2011, UbiComp '11.

[6]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[7]  Pamela K. Keel,et al.  Assessment of eating disorders , 2002 .

[8]  S. Shiffman.  Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in studies of substance use. , 2009, Psychological assessment.

[9]  J. Schumacher,et al.  Cell phones for ecological momentary assessment with cocaine-addicted homeless patients in treatment. , 2006, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[10]  F Joseph McClernon,et al.  I am your smartphone, and I know you are about to smoke: the application of mobile sensing and computing approaches to smoking research and treatment. , 2013, Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

[11]  R. L. Collins,et al.  The feasibility of using cellular phones to collect ecological momentary assessment data: application to alcohol consumption. , 2003, Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology.

[12]  E. Thompson.  Development and Validation of an Internationally Reliable Short-Form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) , 2007 .

[13]  Debbie Stone,et al.  User Interface Design and Evaluation , 2005 .

[14]  Michael S Businelle,et al.  A randomized clinical trial of a palmtop computer-delivered treatment for smoking relapse prevention among women. , 2011, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[15]  C. Lejuez,et al.  Construct Validity of the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) , 2005, Assessment.

[16]  Syed Akhter Hossain,et al.  Comparative Study on Agile software development methodologies , 2013, ArXiv.

[17]  Gregory L. Stuart,et al.  Balloon Analogue Risk Task , 2011 .

[18]  Mario Gerla,et al.  Usability Testing of a Smartphone for Accessing a Web-based e-Diary for Self-monitoring of Pain and Symptoms in Sickle Cell Disease , 2012, Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology.

[19]  J. D. Runyan,et al.  A Smartphone Ecological Momentary Assessment/Intervention “App” for Collecting Real-Time Data and Promoting Self-Awareness , 2013, PloS one.

[20]  Scott D. Lane,et al.  Alcohol effects on human risk taking , 2004, Psychopharmacology.

[21]  Richard Cooke,et al.  The role of context and timeframe in moderating relationships within the theory of planned behaviour , 2011, Psychology & health.

[22]  Gregory L. Stuart,et al.  Evaluation of a behavioral measure of risk taking: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). , 2002, Journal of experimental psychology. Applied.

[23]  D. Moskowitz,et al.  Ecological momentary assessment: what it is and why it is a method of the future in clinical psychopharmacology. , 2006, Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN.

[24]  R. Poldrack,et al.  Mind the gap: bridging economic and naturalistic risk-taking with cognitive neuroscience , 2011, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[25]  Klaus Pohl,et al.  Requirements Engineering - Fundamentals, Principles, and Techniques , 2010 .

[26]  Stelios Xinogalos,et al.  A comparative analysis of cross-platform development approaches for mobile applications , 2013, BCI '13.

[27]  Gerjo Kok,et al.  Monitoring Dietary Intake and Physical Activity Electronically: Feasibility, Usability, and Ecological Validity of a Mobile-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment Tool , 2013, Journal of medical Internet research.

[28]  Andre Charland,et al.  Mobile application development , 2011, Commun. ACM.

[29]  B. Leigh.  Peril, chance, adventure: concepts of risk, alcohol use and risky behavior in young adults. , 1999, Addiction.

[30]  S. Michie,et al.  Theories of behaviour and behaviour change across the social and behavioural sciences: a scoping review , 2014, Health psychology review.

[31]  M. Schmuckler.  What Is Ecological Validity? A Dimensional Analysis. , 2001, Infancy : the official journal of the International Society on Infant Studies.

[32]  S. Shiffman,et al.  Reactivity to ecological momentary assessment: an example using undergraduate problem drinkers. , 2002, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[33]  Jason D. Runyan,et al.  Virtues, ecological momentary assessment/intervention and smartphone technology , 2015, Front. Psychol..