Student Mental Health and Self-Efficacy as  Predictors of Compliance in Ecological  Momentary Assessment

Although ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used in clinical and research settings due to its high ecological validity, low compliance rates still hinder its full fruition. Inconsistency in which predictors interfere with EMA compliance persists. As students frequently suffer from mental health problems, we as a Bachelor project group conducted an EMA study measuring mental health and related behaviors in 84 Bachelor students of Dutch universities via a smartphone application. The study consisted of a baseline assessment, a two-week-long EMA with four measurements per day, and a post-assessment. My goal was to explore whether mental health and self-efficacy predict EMA compliance and whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between mental health and compliance? I computed a multiple linear regression model and mediation analysis with bootstrapping using the program “PROCESS” (Hayes, 2009) on IBM SPSS Statistics, version 24. The dependent variable was...Show moreAlthough ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used in clinical and research settings due to its high ecological validity, low compliance rates still hinder its full fruition. Inconsistency in which predictors interfere with EMA compliance persists. As students frequently suffer from mental health problems, we as a Bachelor project group conducted an EMA study measuring mental health and related behaviors in 84 Bachelor students of Dutch universities via a smartphone application. The study consisted of a baseline assessment, a two-week-long EMA with four measurements per day, and a post-assessment. My goal was to explore whether mental health and self-efficacy predict EMA compliance and whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between mental health and compliance? I computed a multiple linear regression model and mediation analysis with bootstrapping using the program “PROCESS” (Hayes, 2009) on IBM SPSS Statistics, version 24. The dependent variable was compliance, derived from the percentage completed EMA surveys, and the independent variables were mental health and self-efficacy at baseline, where the latter ran as the mediator between mental health and compliance. I added age and gender as covariates. Results depicted a mean EMA compliance rate of 83.9% with minimal time variations. No predictor was significantly related to EMA compliance (R 2 = 0%). The mediation analysis showed non-significant direct and indirect paths with compliance. This demonstrates that students generally complied well with the EMA and did not systematically miss EMA reports based on their mental health and self-efficacy, which is promising for future EMA use.Show less

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Student Mental Health and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Compliance in Ecological Momentary Assessment