New technologies in psychological intervention and assessment

Mobile applications allow us to take research and therapy in psychology to another level.

When we talk about therapy in psychology, we usually imagine a scenario in which professional and patient share the same room and exchange experiences, feelings, concerns, knowledge... If anything, the professional takes some notes or provides some written material to the patient.

However, this version of therapy is rather reductionist, especially at the present time.. Nowadays, new technologies allow us to communicate in multiple ways and to share data remotely and immediately, opening the way to new forms of therapy.

The role of new technologies in psychotherapy

In 2011, the American psychologists Alan Kazdin and Stacey Blase published their article Rebooting Psychotherapy Research and Practice to Reduce the Burden of Mental Illness. In this text they argue that although the classic idea of the therapist-patient dyad may be the most effective and most accepted by patients, it is necessary to incorporate other ways of acting in order to reach those people who do not have access to any type of psychotherapeutic treatment.

To achieve this, they speak of the potential of new technologies, based above all on cell phones and the Internet.. However, this is also a reductionist version in which the use of new technologies is proposed for those cases in which face-to-face therapy is not possible.

Data collection in psychology is fundamental in interventions carried out from a cognitive-behavioral approach when records or self-registers are used. In these, it is necessary to collect the moment (place, time, etc.) of the behavior and the sensations, emotions or thoughts associated with it, as well as other relevant information (what was happening, who the person was with, etc.).The more immediate and precise the data collection is, the better the results can be obtained, the better the results can be obtained.

The more immediate and precise this data collection is, the better results can be obtained. This is what is referred to by the term Ecological Momentary Assessment, or EMA(Shiffman, Stone, & Hufford, 2008), which can be translated as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA).

The difficulties that are usually encountered when collecting these data are those of remembering and recording emotions, cognitions and/or behaviors, since not having non-intrusive methods that allow the collection, this is usually dilated in time. But the current use of smartphones allows people to make data collection immediate to the occurrence of the behavior and in the person's natural environment, and even automating some of the data such as date, time and even location.

Ecological Momentary Interventions

Studies conducted on the basis of electronic diaries (Palm or PDA) show that using EMA favors a very different data collection than the traditional paper and pencil in many areas of Psychology (Shiffman et al., 2008). However, this technology had a series of limitations that, although they facilitated the collection of ecological and momentary information, did not allow more complex functionalities such as synchronization with servers or voice recognition.

Smartphones overcome these barriers by far.It has established itself as an ideal technology, not only for the collection of information, but can also be used to carry out what Runyan and colleagues (2013) have called Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI).

As the name suggests, "momentary" and "ecological" intervention is associated with the possibility of the person at the precise moment when the behavior is occurring and in a natural or minimally invasive way. and in a natural or minimally invasive way, making available to people, for example, self-instructions or guidelines that they can consult immediately and thus reduce anxiety levels.

In this way, new technologies do not replace a face-to-face intervention, but complement it, making it more effective.

Nowadays, and from the perspective of working with big data, the use of smartphones dilutes the distinction between EMA and EMI, as it opens up the possibility of performing online intervention through a mobile application that connects to devices and allows continuous feedback between data and allows continuous feedback between the data collected in the assessment phase and during the intervention. Thus, we speak of Smartphone Ecological Momentary Assessment/Interventions (Runyan et al., 2013).

The advantages of a register updated in real time

Being able to rely on devices that collect data and have the ability to share them in real time with professionals and researchers has been a before and after has meant a before and after in the work done with of EMA and EMI, allowing especially in the latter a level of personalization that was impossible until now (Wangberg & Psychol, 2013).

This can be of great importance in the field of psychological assessment and intervention, and even more so in the field of research, and can revolutionize the way in which theoretical models are developed.and even more so in the field of research, and may revolutionize the way in which theoretical models are developed.

In recent years, new technologies have been emerging that, when made available to professionals, allow the concepts discussed in this article to be put into practice.

One of the most relevant examples could be PsicoReg. This novel platform makes available to psychology and psychiatry professionals, among others, a management, data collection and intervention system through a patient-focused APP. aimed at the patient.

Bibliographic references:

• Armayones-Ruiz, M., Gómez-Zúñiga, B., Hernández-Encuentra, E., & Pousada, M. (2015) Big Data and Psychology: an opportunity for the Internet of People? Aloma, Revista de Psicologia, Ciències de l'Educació i de l'Esport, 33(2), 21-29. ISSN: 1138-3194.
• Kazdin, A. E., & Blase, S. L. (2011). Rebooting Psychotherapy Research and Practice to Reduce the Burden of Mental Illness. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610393527.
• Shiffman, S., Stone, A. A., & Hufford, M. R. (2008). Ecological momentary assessment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 4, 1-32 https://doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415
• Runyan JD, Steenbergh TA, Bainbridge C, Daugherty DA, Oke L, Fry BN (2013) A Smartphone Ecological Momentary Assessment/Intervention “App” for Collecting Real-Time Data and Promoting Self-Awareness. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71325. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071325.
• Wangberg, S. C., & Psychol, C. (2013). Personalized technology for supporting health behaviors. IEEE 4th International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom) 339–344. doi:10.1109/CogInfoCom.2013.6719267.