Compliance and Retention With the Experience Sampling Method Over the Continuum of Severe Mental Disorders: Meta-Analysis and Recommendations

Background: Despite the growing interest in the experience sampling method (ESM) as a data collection tool for mental health research, the absence of methodological guidelines related to its use has resulted in a large heterogeneity of designs. Concomitantly, the potential effects of the design on the response behavior of the participants remain largely unknown.

Objective: The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the associations between various sample and design characteristics and the compliance and retention rates of studies using ESM in mental health research.

Methods: ESM studies investigating major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and psychotic disorder were considered for inclusion. Besides the compliance and retention rates, a number of sample and design characteristics of the selected studies were collected to assess their potential relationships with the compliance and retention rates. Multilevel random/mixed effects models were used for the analyses.

Results: Compliance and retention rates were lower for studies with a higher proportion of male participants (P

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that ESM studies can be carried out in mental health research, but the quality of the data collection depends upon a number of factors related to the design of ESM studies and the samples under study that need to be considered when designing such protocols.