Smartphone-based mobility metrics capture daily social motivation and behavior in schizophrenia

Impaired social functioning contributes to reduced quality of life and is associated with poor physical and psychological well-being in schizophrenia, and thus is a key psychosocial treatment target. Low social motivation contributes to impaired social functioning, but is typically examined using self-report or clinical ratings, which are prone to recall biases and do not adequately capture the dynamic nature of social motivation in daily life. In the current study, we examined the utility of global positioning system (GPS)-based mobility data for capturing social motivation and behavior in people with schizophrenia. Thirty-one participants with schizophrenia engaged in a 60-day mobile intervention designed to increase social motivation and functioning. We examined associations between twice daily self-reports of social motivation and behavior (e.g., number of social interactions) collected via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) and passively collected daily GPS mobility metrics (e.g., number of hours spent at home) in 26 of these participants. Findings suggested that greater mobility on a given day was associated with more EMA-reported social interactions on that day for four out of five examined mobility metrics: number of hours spent at home, number of locations visited, probability of being stationary, and likelihood of following one's typical routine. In addition, greater baseline social functioning was associated with less daily time spent at home and lower probability of following a daily routine during the intervention. GPS-based mobility thus corresponds with social behavior in daily life, suggesting that more social interactions may occur at times of greater mobility in people with schizophrenia, while subjective reports of social interest and motivation are less associated with mobility for this population.