Integrating Patient-Generated Digital Data into Mental Health Therapy: A mixed methods analysis of user experience (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Therapists and their patients increasingly discuss digital data from social media, smartphone sensors, and other online engagement within the context of psychotherapy. We examined patients’ and mental health therapists’ experiences and perceptions following a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which they both received regular summaries of patients’ digital data (e.g., dashboard) to review and discuss in session. The dashboard included data which patients consented to share from their social media posts, phone usage and online searches. Following the RCT, patient (n=56) and therapist (n=44) participants completed a debriefing survey after their study completion (from December 2021 - January 2022). Participants were asked about their experience receiving a digital data dashboard in psychotherapy via closed- and open-ended questions. We calculated descriptive statistics for closed-ended questions and conducted qualitative coding via NVivo 10 and natural language processing using the machine learning tool Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyze open-ended questions. Of 100 participants, nearly half (49%) described their experience with the dashboard as “positive,” while the other half noted a “neutral” experience. Responses to the open-ended questions resulted in three thematic areas (9 sub-categories): (1) dashboard experience (positive; neutral or negative; comfortable), (2) perception of the dashboard’s impact on enhancing therapy (accountability; increased awareness over time; objectivity), and (3) dashboard refinements (additional sources; tailored content; ethics). Patients reported that receiving their digital data helped them stay “accountable,” while therapists indicated that dashboard helped “tailor treatment plans.” Patient and therapist surveys provided important feedback their experience regularly discussing dashboards in psychotherapy.