Florida Participants

Title of the Study: Families and Technology

Principal Investigator: Dr. Adela Timmons, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

External Co-Principal Investigator: Jonathan Comer, Ph.D., Florida International University

Study Sponsor: Colliga Apps and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Locations:

  • Virtual visits only for Florida participants!
  • Florida International University Center for Children and Families: Academic Health Center 1, 1250 SW 108th Ave Room 140, Miami, FL 33174

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Overview of Key Research Information

Things you should know:

  • The purpose of the study is to test an app that helps kids and families feel happier and get along better.
  • The study takes data from smartwatches and smartphones. We track how you feel and get along with your child and partner and how that relates to your child’s mental health. We also send you information and activities to complete through the app.
  • To participate, your child must be within the ages of 6 through 9 years old and able to speak Spanish and/or English fluently.
  • If you choose to participate, you will be asked to attend study meetings and carry a phone and wear a FitBit or Apple Watch for 2 months. Meeting 1 will take 2 hours and meeting 2 will also take 2 hours. At study meetings, you will complete questionnaires about you and your family’s health, functioning, and background. At Visits 1 and 2, You will also a do a video-taped interview about digital health. We will ask you to also complete 15-minute check-in phone calls every 2 weeks.
  • Data you will provide through the phone or watch include surveys about your mood and interactions twice per day, audio recordings twice per day, ambient light and noise levels, phone charge time and level, barometer data, humidity, screen brightness, where you are, the amount of time you spend with family members, and your physical activity, sleep, and heart rate. Every 2 weeks you’ll also complete a survey about your experiences using the app.
  • You might participate in activities with you designed to help you and your family feel happier or get along better. These could include reading, watching videos, answering questions, and completing activities (e.g., meditation, playing, deep breathing, reward). All together, these prompted through the app will be no more than 30 minutes per day)
  • If you are in the group that receives the program, it’s possible your child and family might feel happier and get along better. All families provide data. You may or may not be in the group that gets to the program designed to help kids and families.
  • Risks or discomforts from this research include a possible breach in privacy and from answering sensitive questions. However, we will take all possible precautions to keep data confidential. All data is stored in secure servers and de-identified when possible.
  • Taking part in this research study is voluntary. You or your child may decline to participate or stop participating at any time.

If you agree to be in the study, we will ask you to:

  • Attend a meeting where you will answer questionnaires and be interviewed. We will ask about you, your child, and family. We will ask about your health, parenting, conflict and aggression, stress, and how you get along with your child and partner. At Visits 1 and 3, You will also a do a video-taped interview about digital health.
  • Download an app, carry a smartphone, and wear a Fitbit or Apple Watch. We will loan phones and watches if needed.
  • You will provide data for 2 months. Data will include surveys each day and data from your phones and watches. The surveys will ask about your mood (e.g., happy, sad). We will also ask how you got along with your child and partner (e.g., if you had fun together or argued). Caregivers will complete a survey per day (5 minutes each). We will also ask caregivers to provide 30-minute audio recordings once a day. We will only record after asking your permission which will be sent as a banner notification on your phone. The message sent will say “Tap here to collect audio.” It will only record audio if you tap on the message where it says “tap here.”Please only record when in a private place where no outside people who aren’t part of the study are present. Every 2 weeks you’ll also complete a 15-minute survey about your experiences using the app.
  • When the audio recording is active, the phone microphone icon will be red and active. When the audio recording is complete, participants will know because the red microphone will disappear. Participants have the option of not clicking the banner notification to not start the audio recording or ignore the audio recording.
  • Other data you will provide through the phone or watch include ambient light and noise levels, phone charge time and level, barometer data, humidity, screen brightness, where you are, the amount of time you spend with family members, and your physical activity, sleep, and heart rate. We can view whether data is being collected and the device charge level on our data collection portal. If we see data aren’t being collected or the charge is low, we will text a reminder message. An example of a message you might receive is: “Hi ___! I am looking at the data collection and it seems that the battery on your (insert device) is dead. If possible, it would be very appreciated if you could charge and wear the device at your earliest convenience. Also, please check that you are logged into the Colliga app so that data is syncing. Thank you and I truly appreciate your patience. Have a great day!”
  • During the 2-month period, you might complete some educational modules that will teach you about mental health and family functioning. If you are asked to do that, the modules will take approximately 5 minutes, and you will do one a day. We also ask you to complete a short activity once per day and answer some questions. If you’re asked, they will take 5-30 minutes and no more than 30 minutes all together on the app for this component. Some might include things that you can do on your own, for example, a breathing exercise or meditation. Others might include something you do as a family, like play together for 5 minutes or give a compliment. Additionally, you may be asked to record these activities and receive recommendations or instructions based on these recordings.
  • Every two weeks, you will complete a 15-minute check-in interview.
  • After 2 months, you will attend the second meeting to return your devices, answer more questionnaires, and complete your final interview. After this final meeting, the study will be complete.
  • Some families will provide data only while others will also participate in a program, we hope will improve kids’ and families’ well-being. To conduct the best test of the study, we cannot tell you what group you’re in. You will have a random, 50-50 chance of being in either group. We’ll let you know after the study is over what group you we're in.

Florida Participants will participate remotely via Zoom. Please note that for the remote version of the study, Visit 1 will be divided into Visits 1, 2, and 3 (each taking approximately 2 hours). This is because we have to conduct consent and screening and questionnaires (Visit 1) before sending you devices (set up and instructions for Visit 2), and then our follow up (Visit 3).

How will we compensate you for the study?

Your family will be paid $200 for taking part in the study. We will pay $50 for the first meeting and $150 for the second meeting plus phone and watch data. If requested by the family, this compensation may be halved in two caregiver scenarios, i.e. each parent would receive $100 total. Payments will be a prepaid visa gift card that will either be emailed or mailed. The gift card will be in the form of a Giftogram which allows participants choose different companies to use at or be in the form of a Visa (prepaid Visa giftcard). The electronic gift card will be emailed to you. We also provide $10 for referring additional families to participate who enroll. There are no costs to you. Compensation for an injury resulting from your participation in this research is not available. You are not waiving any of your legal rights by participating in this study. To participate in the research, you will need to pay for parking, but will be reimbursed.