National Digital Mental Health Study

Enrollment is closed at this time.

UCLA is recruiting participants for a national digital mental health study, which is being conducted by the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge.

This study is being conducted by researchers at UCLA, and the purpose is to advance our understanding of causes and trajectories of depression, stress, anxiety, and related conditions, using smartphones and smartwatches, in order to explore and develop objective measures relevant to these conditions.

Study participation requires for you to own an iPhone 11 or newer, with access to a reliable data plan and Wifi. If you own an Apple Watch Series 8 or newer, you can use your own watch for study participation; if you do not own an eligible Apple Watch, one will be provided to you for use in the study*. To learn more about how to determine whether your phone is eligible, click here.

Research participation involves completion of self-report surveys online and an intake assessment with our research team that is conducted by secure video conference, followed by 6 months of data collection.

During this 6-month period, you will be asked to participate in three Check-in sessions with our study team by phone, to wear the Apple Watch for 20 hours each day (including while sleeping) and to follow the device charging requirements, and to complete a number of tasks on an app installed on your iPhone and sent to you by email/text.

Over the 6-month period, we will ask you to:

• Install a Research app on your iPhone for the duration of the study
• Wear the Apple Watch daily, which includes wearing the Apple Watch for at least 20 hours each day (including sleeping with the watch on each night)
• Meet daily charging requirements, which requires charging your Apple Watch and iPhone together for at least 2 hours each day while the devices are connected via Bluetooth and on the same Wi-Fi
• Report daily on symptoms using the app installed on your iPhone
• Complete weekly assessments using the app installed on your iPhone or using links sent to you by email/text
• Make video journal recordings using the app installed on your iPhone every other week as you answer questions about how you have been feeling
• Complete multiple ratings of stress each day for 7 days during 4 separate weeks during the study
• Complete assessment sessions with the study team at the beginning of the study (1.5 hours, video conference) and complete three Check-in sessions during the study (30 minutes each, by phone)

Study participation is expected to require a total of approximately 18 hours over approximately 26 weeks.

You can earn up to $600 for completing all study assessments, which includes completing daily and weekly tasks, daily watch wear (including while sleeping), and following daily charging requirements. You may be able to keep the Apple Watch depending on the study assessments and tasks completed.

If you previously participated in studies conducted by this UCLA research team and Apple (IRBs #20-000995, #20-002337, #21-001558), you are not eligible to participate in the National Digital Mental Health study.

Participating or not participating in this research will not affect the healthcare you receive from your doctor. Participation is entirely voluntary. This study is not to provide treatment.

Before the Principal Investigator (PI) and UCLA Study Staff share your study data with Apple (the study sponsor) and other researchers, your name and other contact information will be removed and a random, unique code, known as the Study ID Number, will be assigned to the data. This code will not be based on any information about you.

In order to determine if you are eligible, you will be asked to answer a series of questions about yourself, and may be asked to answer questions about current symptoms of depression that you may be experiencing. If you are eligible based on your responses, you will be directed to our enrollment page, where you will have an opportunity to read the consent form before deciding to enroll. If you are not eligible to enroll at this time based on your responses, you will be asked whether you would like to be contacted at a later date if enrollment opens to you.

If you are eligible, after you provide consent (if you choose to do so) and enroll in the study, you will be asked additional questions to prepare for your participation in the study before being able to schedule your first session with us online.

If a page remains idle, you will be logged out. You can re-enter your email and phone number, and verify your number via text message, to resume.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions, click here.

* The Apple Watch provided is either Series 8 or newer. Color and size are based on available inventory.