Hallucination Assessment through Longitudinal Observation

What is the purpose of this study?

Researchers from the University of Washington, Louisiana State University, and Regents of the University of Minnesota are conducting a remote study to develop data-driven clinical signatures for people who experience hallucinations.

 

Why is this important? Our research team has decades of combined experience researching hallucinations, and we know that mental health care for people experiencing hallucinations is not always reliable and accessible. We want to take advantage of the popularity of mobile devices to improve accuracy of diagnosis and reliability of care. Our study will evaluate smartphone based tasks like EMA (ecological momentary assessment), audio diaries, and verbal recall tasks as predictors of individual differences in severe negative outcomes. 

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What will my participation look like?

This study is 100% remote, which means you can participate from anywhere in the United States. Here's a quick rundown:

1. You'll take our eligibility survey. This should take 10 minutes or so.

2. If you're eligible, you will take our baseline survey assessment, which will take about 45 minutes. You will receive $50 in online gift cards after finishing our surveys.

3. Then you'll download our app onto your smartphone to begin data collection. For the first 30 days of the study, you will complete our mobile check-ins three times per week. When you open the app, you'll be directed through each task (EMA, audio diary, and verbal recall) and a few short self-report questions. After the first 30 days of data collection, you will take a follow-up survey, and then receive up to $100 in online gift cards. 

4. What do each of these check-ins look like? Ecological momentary assessment, or EMA, is a short set of questions asking you about how you feel and how your symptoms are affecting you in the moment. The audio diary will ask you to send in a brief recording (~1 minute) telling us about your day and your symptoms. For the verbal recall task, you will hear a short 30 second story and be asked to repeat it in as much detail as possible. After all of the check-ins are done, you will upload your recordings from the app. 

5. After the first 30 days of data collection, you will participate in four more weekly "bursts" throughout the year of the study. At 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months, you will send in one week's worth of data (3x per week) and take a follow-up survey. These bursts will include the same smartphone based measurement tasks coupled with a clinical outcome assessment.

6. You will receive $30 for each completed weekly burst at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months.

 

Who will see my data?

Researchers from the University of Washington, Regents of the University of Minnesota, and Louisiana State University will be able to see your data. Once your data is de-identified (cannot be traced back to you), it will be stored in NIH data banks. For more information, please see our privacy policy.​

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Why do you pay people? 

We send online gift cards to express our thanks for participating -- we know you're busy, and we value your time.