FeelSync: Tailoring Ecological Momentary Assessments and Interventions for Emotion Awareness, Regulation, and Mental Health Outcomes

Marta Marciniak

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Stress

Treatments: Device: FeelSync mobile application; Device: Ecological Momentary Assessment mobile application

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06986850

ETH2425-0653

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study investigates how different ways of reflecting on emotions in daily life influence emotional awareness, emotion regulation, and mental health. Using the FeelSync mobile app over the course of seven days, participants are prompted multiple times a day to report on their current emotional state in various formats (e.g., rating scales, multiple choice, or free text). In some groups, participants also receive brief daily exercises designed to help them practice cognitive reappraisal-a strategy that involves reframing stressful situations to reduce their emotional impact. The study aims to assess not only the overall effectiveness of these reappraisal exercises but also whether the type of emotional self-report used before the intervention affects its impact. All participants complete questionnaires before and after the app phase to track changes in mood, stress, emotional awareness, and regulation.

Enrollment: 490 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 30 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Owning a smartphone
• Proficiency in English language
• Being a student
• Age between 18 to 30 years old

Exclusion criteria

• Severe mental health disorder

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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490 participants in 7 patient groups

Ecological Momentary Assessment with self-generated emotion description

Active Comparator group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Assessment with participant's self-generated emotion description in an open-ended question form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: Ecological Momentary Assessment mobile application

Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to select

Active Comparator group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to select in a multiple-choice question form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: Ecological Momentary Assessment mobile application

Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to rate on a Likert scale

Active Comparator group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to rate on a seven-point Likert scale, in a slider form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: Ecological Momentary Assessment mobile application

Ecological Momentary Intervention with self-generated emotion description

Experimental group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Intervention focused on cognitive reappraisal, with a possibility to choose between distancing and positive reappraisal, provided three times daily and preceded by Ecological Momentary Assessment with participant's self-generated emotion description in an open-ended question form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: FeelSync mobile application

Ecological Momentary Intervention with self-generated emotion description in mother tongue

Experimental group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Intervention focused on cognitive reappraisal, with a possibility to choose between distancing and positive reappraisal, provided three times daily and preceded by Ecological Momentary Assessment with participant's self-generated emotion description in an open-ended question form, in participant's mother tongue, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: FeelSync mobile application

Ecological Momentary Intervention with pre-defined set of emotion items to select

Experimental group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Intervention focused on cognitive reappraisal, with a possibility to choose between distancing and positive reappraisal, provided three times daily and preceded by Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to rate on a seven-point Likert scale, in a slider form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: FeelSync mobile application

Ecological Momentary Intervention with pre-defined set of emotion items to rate on a Likert scale

Experimental group

Description:

Ecological Momentary Intervention focused on cognitive reappraisal, with a possibility to choose between distancing and positive reappraisal, provided three times daily and preceded by Ecological Momentary Assessment with pre-defined set of emotion items to rate on a seven-point Likert scale, in a slider form, in English, provided five times daily for seven consecutive days

Treatment:

Device: FeelSync mobile application