Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Nov;134(8):1020-1030.
doi: 10.1037/abn0001027. Epub 2025 Oct 2.

Testing the feasibility of passive sensing among adolescents: Implications for mental health

Kaitlyn Burnell  1 , Jesus A Beltran  2 , Monika N Lind  3 , Gillian R Hayes  2 , Candice L Odgers  3
Affiliations

Testing the feasibility of passive sensing among adolescents: Implications for mental health

Kaitlyn Burnell et al. J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2025 Nov.

Abstract

Passive sensing technology shows promise in capturing elements of adolescent mental health. Research testing if there is a signal between adolescents' self-reports of same-day mental health indicators and passively sensed variables can be inconsistent, particularly with metrics pertaining to digital behaviors. Moreover, little is known if adolescent participation in passive sensing research is biased with respect to demographics and general metrics of mental health. The current research tested these aims among adolescents recruited from a large and diverse sample participating in an ongoing longitudinal study. Adolescents (aged 15-20, N = 131) participated in a 90-day passive sensing study, which collected data on both digital (keystroke and app usage) and offline (sleep and physical activity) behaviors. Although correlations indicated a small signal between same-day mental health indicators and several passively sensed variables (e.g., proportion of typed negative words and call behaviors), associations typically disappeared when disaggregating between- from within-person associations. Additionally, participation uptake was low, but there was little evidence of bias in participation or data coverage based on mental health risk or demographics. Results demonstrate the feasibility of collecting passive sensing data with a diverse sample of adolescents, but barriers remain on adolescent willingness to engage in this research and the strength of signal between passively sensed variables and self-report constructs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Kaitlyn Burnell has served as a paid consultant for ongoing social media litigation.

Monika Lind holds an equity interest in Ksana Health Inc, the company that has the sole commercial license for certain versions of the Effortless Assessment Research System (EARS) app.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow Chart of Participant Retention
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of participants with data coverage across the 90-day study period
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Al-Mosaiwi M, & Johnstone T (2018). In an absolute state: Elevated use of absolutist words is a marker specific to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Clinical Psychological Science, 6, 529–542. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alexander J, Linkersdörfer J, Toda-Thorne K, Sullivan RM, Cummins KM, Tomko RL, Allen NB, Bagot KS, Baker FC, Fuemmeler BF, Hoffman EA, Kiss O, Mason MJ, Nguyen-Louie TT, Tapert SF, Smith CJ, Squeglia LM, & Wade NE (2024). Passively sensing smartphone use in teens with rates of use by sex and across operating systems. Scientific Reports, 24, 17982. 10.1038/s41598-024-68467-8 - DOI
    1. Baynham R, Camargo A, D’Alfonso S, Zhang T, Munoz Z, Davies P, Alvarez-Jimenez M, van Berkel N, Kostakos V, Schmaal L, & Tagliaferri SD (2025). The dynamic association between physical activity and psychological symptoms in young people with major depressive disorder, An active and passive sensing longitudinal cohort study. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 19, e70018. 10.1111/eip.70018 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beames JR, Han J, Shvetcov A, Zheng WY, Slade A, Dabash O, Rosenberg J, O’Dea B, Kasturi S, Hoon L, Whitton AE, Christensen H, Newby JM (2024). Use of smartphone sensor data in detecting and predicting depression and anxiety in young people (12–25 years): A scoping review. Heliyon, 10, e35472. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bixo L, Cunningham JL, Ekselius L, Öster C, & Ramklint M (2021). ‘Sick and tired’: Patients reported reasons for not participating in clinical psychiatric research. Health Expectations, 24, 20–29. - PMC - PubMed