Background:
Young people report that they typically respond to distress by talking to their friends, thinking and distracting themselves. By using retrospective questionnaires, research has examined what young people say but not what they actually do when distressed and what the impact of these responses are prospectively. The aim of this study was to design a mobile phone momentary sampling program that prospectively tracks the everyday mood, stresses and coping strategies of young people as they happen.
Design:
A momentary sampling program was designed and translated into java-based language for mobile phones. The program ran for 7 days, administering four random samples per day. Participants were prompted to report current activity, companions, mood, response to low mood, recent stressful experiences, and alcohol and cannabis use. The program was reviewed by 11 high school students in focus groups, and 18 students completed 7 days of mobile monitoring.
Results:
Engagement with the Mobile_TYPE program was high with a majority of students (82%) completing at least 75% of the entries. The most common responses to feeling distressed were do nothing (14.6%), eating (11.4%), sleeping (10.8%) and studying (7.5%). About 88% of active responses to distress lead to a later report of feeling good or better. The responses associated with a later report of not feeling better were worrying, doing nothing, crying, relaxing, eating, studying, pretending to be okay and shopping.
Conclusion:
The Mobile_TYPE program captured a range of detailed and interesting qualitative, quantitative and prospective data about young people's everyday mood, stresses, responses and general functioning.
