Table 1 Identification of specific conditions related to each type of methodology in the available literature
Necessary Criteria | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Methodology | Digital Technology | Biological measurements | Online Behaviour | Active data/ reporting | Passive data/ Objective sensor | Applications | Example |
EMA/ ESM | No | No | No | Yes | No | Research strategy involving fine grained assessment of an individual’s immediate mental state within the context and flow of daily experience and one’s natural settings (Ben-Zeev et al.) [12] | Patient diaries |
Digital Phenotype/ing | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Overarching term, inclusive of any methodology involving the objective assessment/surveying of the digital footprint of individuals’ physical and mental health conditions in online and offline environments (Jain et al.) [96]. In this context, individual digital footprints arise as a residue of user/interface interaction | Social media use metrics |
Passive sensing | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Methodology involving digital technology capable of capturing daily activities and routines to assess multiple dimensions of human behavior (Narziev et al.) [138] | Geolocation information |
Digital biomarkers | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Digital biomarkers refer to quantifiable physiological information passively recorded via digital technology | Blood Pressure |
Mobile sensing | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Mobile sensing platforms enable the identification and tracking of human behavior from digital data passively collected from sensors embedded on mobile devices (Place et al.) [154] | Phone call frequency |
Ambulatory assessment | Yes | No | No | No | No | This computer-assisted methodology allows researchers to obtain participant information multiple times daily while in their natural environments that may include passive and/or active data collection (Hepp et al.) [80] | Computer assisted self-reports |