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Assessing your mood online: acceptability and use of Moodscope
1Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK. g.drake.12@ucl.ac.uk
Psychological Medicine
|November 15, 2012
Summary
Moodscope, an online mood-tracking tool, showed significant correlation with established measures, indicating validity. However, user engagement declined over time, suggesting a need for motivational improvements.
Area of Science:
- Digital mental health tools
- Online mood tracking applications
- Service-user-developed interventions
Background:
- Moodscope is a novel online tool for mood tracking and feedback, developed by service users.
- Existing free online tools often lack rigorous assessment of their validity and usefulness.
- This study serves as a model for evaluating such digital mental health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the validity and usability of the Moodscope tool.
- To explore user experience and identify areas for improvement.
- To determine Moodscope's potential as a clinical support tool.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative data.
- Participants with mild to moderate low mood used Moodscope for three months.
- Correlations with Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) scores were analyzed; usability was assessed via questionnaires and focus groups.
Main Results:
- Moodscope scores demonstrated significant correlations with PHQ-9 and GAD-7, supporting its validity as a mood measure.
- User engagement decreased over the trial period, highlighting challenges with sustained motivation.
- The tool was found to be user-friendly, but participants raised concerns regarding mood descriptors, site design, and the social support feature.
Conclusions:
- Moodscope shows potential as a tool for clinicians to identify mood patterns in individuals with low mood.
- With modifications, it could serve as a valuable adjunct to therapy, particularly for users benefiting from continuous mood monitoring and social support.
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