Rationale and validation of a novel mobile application probing motor inhibition: Proof of concept of CALM-IT

Abstract

Identification of behavioral mechanisms underlying psychopathology is essential for the development of novel targeted therapeutics. However, this work relies on rigorous, time-intensive, clinic-based laboratory research, making it difficult to translate research paradigms into tools that can be used by clinicians in the community. The broad adoption of smartphone technology provides a promising opportunity to bridge the gap between the mechanisms identified in the laboratory and the clinical interventions targeting them in the community. The goal of the current study is to develop a developmentally appropriate, engaging, novel mobile application called CALM-IT that probes a narrow biologically informed process, inhibitory control. We aim to leverage the rigorous and robust methods traditionally used in laboratory settings to validate this novel mechanism-driven but easily disseminatable tool that can be used by clinicians to probe inhibitory control in the community. The development of CALM-IT has significant implications for the ability to screen for inhibitory control deficits in the community by both clinicians and researchers. By facilitating assessment of inhibitory control outside of the laboratory setting, researchers could have access to larger and more diverse samples. Additionally, in the clinical setting, CALM-IT represents a novel clinical screening measure that could be used to determine personalized courses of treatment based on the presence of inhibitory control deficits.

Selecting an Ecological Momentary Assessment Platform: Tutorial for Researchers

“…We use EMA in isolation, as well as EMA paired with wearable devices (eg, heart rate monitors and accelerometers) [49][50][51]. We also have experience developing and evaluating technology-based solutions more broadly, including through assessment (eg, smartphone app-based inhibitory control assessment [52]) and intervention (ie, computer-based interpretation bias training targeting face emotion processing [53]).…”

Executive Functioning Constructs in Anxiety, Obsessive–Compulsive, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Related Disorders

“…Likewise, increased EMA-based self-reported everyday stress correlated with less efficient WM task performance during the next moment, and older (vs. younger) age magnified this effect [ 92 ]. Relatedly, data collection using an EMA inhibition task on children and adolescents is underway and will shed light on the distinct day-to-day relations among anxiety, irritability, inhibition, and accompanying constructs in this population [ 93 ]. No studies thus far have used passive sensing data capturing technologies to understand the relations between EF- and anxiety constructs, rendering this a fruitful area to explore in clinical science.…”