Development and Validation of a Cross-Device Platform for Anhedonia Trend Visualization by Using Ecological Momentary Assessment and Moving Averages (Part I): Protocol for a Methodological Pilot Study

JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Dec 18;14:e84024. doi: 10.2196/84024.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia is a core symptom of depressive disorders. Although group-level cutoff points for the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) are established, real-time, individual-level monitoring remains limited. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) enables high-frequency sampling, and simple moving averages (SMA; 7/14/30 days) offer an interpretable way to smooth daily signals and surface early-warning trends.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a cross-device platform that collects EMA-based SHAPS responses and visualizes SMA trends for individual anhedonia monitoring. This part I protocol focuses on platform design, feasibility, usability, data quality, and initial analytical validity to inform subsequent evaluation.

METHODS: We will conduct a single-arm methodological pilot in approximately 24 adults, recruited from an outpatient psychiatry clinic (clinical cohort) and a university setting (nonclinical cohort). After baseline assessment, participants will complete 30 days of daily EMA-SHAPS. Primary outcomes are feasibility (adherence, missingness patterns, timing fidelity) and usability/face validity (eg, System Usability Scale, qualitative feedback). We will also describe expert content validity ratings for key visual elements and exploratory analytic checks of within-person variability and the descriptive behavior of 7/14/30-day moving averages; these analyses are not powered for confirmatory hypothesis testing.

RESULTS: This protocol specifies the design-validate sequence, recruitment procedures, and predefined adherence and missing-data rules for computing moving averages. Recruitment for the year-1 feasibility pilot is scheduled to begin in March 2026 following institutional review board approval (approval 114006; approval date: June 10, 2025), with feasibility metrics, usability indices, and parameter estimates used to refine alert logic and power calculations for a planned part II evaluation.

CONCLUSIONS: Combining EMA-SHAPS with SMA-based trend visualizations may provide an interpretable way to summarize daily anhedonia signals and generate candidate early-warning indicators. This methodological pilot will deliver feasibility, usability, and preliminary analytic parameters needed to support a subsequent controlled evaluation of the platform’s clinical utility.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/84024.

PMID:41411644 | DOI:10.2196/84024