1.
Peer-ceived Well-Being: Exploring the Value of Peers for
Human Stress Assessment in-Situ
Allan Berrocal
PhD Student at University of Geneva
Katarzyna Wac
Assoc. Professor
Doctoral Colloquium
UbiComp/IWSC 2018
October 8th, 2018 Singapore

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Outline
1. Introducing concepts
2. Works related with peers
a. Scientific foundation overview
b. Overview of previous work using peers
3. Research questions
4. Methods
5. Experiments
6. mQoL-Peer
7. Ongoing work
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3.
❖ R. Wang et al. 2014. StudentLife : Assessing Mental Health, Academic Performance and Behavioral Trends of College Students using Smartphones. UbiComp’14
❖ S. Choi et al. 2014. Real-time measurement of human salivary cortisol for the assessment of psychological stress using a smartphone. Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research
In the context of stress assessment, we consider a method invasive if it implies reactivity, i.e., it alters the
usual (or targeted) behaviour of an individual.
Examples:
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Invasive vs non-invasive methods
(usually) invasive (usually) non-invasive
Physical:
eye gaze, voice analysis, pupil diameter, gait
analysis, video recording
Physiological:
EEG, EMG, ECG, cortisol concentration,
BVP
to estimate HR and HRV
GSR
to estimate arousal

4.
❖ Hektner et al. 2007. Experience Sampling Method: Measuring the Quality of Everyday Life
❖ Shiffman et al. 2008. Ecological Momentary Assessment. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 4
❖ Paulhus and S. Vazire. 2005. The Self-Report Method. Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology
Has been used in social experiments for a while
[Hektner, Shiffman]
- Used commonly for short surveys (self report)
- Responds to different triggers
- Captures context related data from smartphone sensors
- Generally considered inexpensive
Pros Cons
. Less recall bias vs diary-based approach
. Interpretability vs GSR, HR, BP
. Standard issues: anchoring, primacy,
recency, time pressure, consistency
. PLUS: self-presentation (SD), acquiescent,
reactant, extreme and random responding
[Paulhus]
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Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)

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- Same characteristics of EMA
- Data is collected from observers
fatigue, anxiety, pain,
sleep, motivation ...
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Peer-ceived Momentary Assessment (Peer-MA)
Peer : close, trusted friends or family members taking the role of
observers to provide Observer-Reported Outcomes (ObsRO)
Peer-MA : is an EMA, completed by an observer (peer) during the
same time window when the target person completes an EMA
Our contribution

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❖ Mayo et al. 2017. Montreal Accord on Patient-Reported Outcomes Use Series-Paper 2. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 89
Pros Cons
. used in clinical health [Mayo] (proxy/caregivers)
. leverages the availability of wearables and daily
social connections
. allows anonymous observations from peers
. assumes observers assess
emotions and moods in others
. subject being observed
fatigue, anxiety, pain,
sleep, motivation ...
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Peer-ceived Momentary Assessment (Peer-MA)
Confidence assessment

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source [4]
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Scientific Foundation
❖ Mayo et al. 2017. Montreal Accord on Patient-Reported Outcomes Use Series-Paper 2. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 89
Peers
We expand into healthy populations

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● General health conditions [Neumann]
● Stroke rehabilitation [Duncan, Sneeuw]
● Community integration after severe injuries [Cusick]
● Chronic stress detection [Kromm]
● Informally used for counseling among students with health problems [Eisenberg]
● Informally among college students with suicidal intentions [Drumet]
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Previous work using peers & inspiration
❖ Neumann et al. 2000. The Use of Proxy Respondents in Studies of Older Adults: Lessons, Challenges, and Opportunities. Journal of American Geriatrics Society
❖ Duncan et al.. 2002. Evaluation of proxy responses to the Stroke Impact Scale. Stroke
❖ Sneeuw et al. 1997. Assessing Quality of Life After Stroke. Stroke, American Heart Association
❖ Cusick et al. 2001. The use of Proxies in Community Integration Research. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
❖ Kromm et al. 2010. Peer Ratings of Chronic Stress: Can Spouses and Friends Provide Reliable and Valid Assessments of a Target Person [...]? Stress and Health
❖ Eisenberg et al. 2012. Help Seeking for Mental Health on College Campuses: Review of Evidence and Next Steps for Research and Practice. Harvard Review of Psychiatry
❖ Eisenberg et al. 2011. Mental Health Service Utilization Among College Students in the United States. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
❖ Drumet al. 2009. New Data on the Nature of Suicidal Crises in College Students: Shifting the Paradigm. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice
❖ A. De Masi et al. 2016. mQoL Smart Lab: Quality of Life Living Lab for Interdisciplinary Experiments. UbiMI Workshop, ACM Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing

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RQ1 : Can peer’s assessments of an individual’s emotional states and moods improve the
accuracy and timeliness of a computational model that predicts that individual’s self-
assessment of stress?
RQ2: Which are critical design, and methodological aspects to consider when providing
relevant feedback to an individual, based on his/her peer’s assessments?
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Research Questions

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Methods
Quantitative Qualitative
Res. Quest. 1 Between groups study:
. number of peers
. frequency of peer-MA (paired,
unpaired)
ML to study the value of peer
assessments
Pre and post study surveys
DRM
* baseline for PSS, SDS, GERT
Res. Quest. 2 Pilot studies to validate design
considerations
* avoiding interventions
Paper prototypes or mock-ups
. data presentation
. granularity
. interpretability

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Experiments
Stress awareness with peers: currently running
. Own app mQoL-Peer (Android)
. Online screening form
. Participants invite peers to the study (via mQoL-Peer)
. Baseline for participants and peers (demographics, PSS, SDS, GERT, custom)
. 28 days, max 8 EMAs p/day from 9:00 to 21:00
. Physiological records (from some subjects) HRV
fatigue, anxiety, pain,
stress and sleep
fatigue, anxiety, stress
and sleep

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mQoL-Peer : extension of Lab’s platform mQoL Smart
Lab [De Masi] to design and launch human mobile
studies.
● Study configuration:
● EMA/Peer-MA features:
● Sensors data:
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❖ A. De Masi et al. 2016. mQoL Smart Lab: Quality of Life Living Lab for Interdisciplinary Experiments. UbiMI Workshop, ACM Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing
mQoL-Peer

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Peer-MA metrics :
This is our own contribution to support mobile human
studies
These data will be analyzed to explore its value for
the problem of stress assessment
A. Berrocal, K. Wac. MHC Workshop, Singapore, Oct 8,
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mQoL-Peer

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Currently running a study about human stress awareness with support from peers in Switzerland
In the making:
A. Berrocal, K. Wac. MHC Workshop, Singapore, Oct 8,
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Ongoing work
Geneva University Hospital
Department of Psychiatry
Early assessment of depression
Stanford University Medical Center
Department of Surgery
Quality of life assessment for patients
undergoing organ transplants
University of Bern
Department of Psychology
Stress at home and work

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Thank you for your attention
Allan Berrocal
Email: allan.berrocal@unige.ch
LinkedIn: allanberrocal
Help my research https://www.tinyurl.com/QoL-Stress
Katarzyna Wac
Assoc. Professor
Doctoral Colloquium
UbiComp/IWSC 2018
October 8th, 2018 Singapore