Passive sensing of behavioral markers of psychopathology: Introduction to the special issue

Our aim in this special issue was to cover the emerging work in passive sensing of behavioral markers of psychopathology. On the one hand, given the recent explosion of studies in clinical science integrating smartphone-based and other wearable sensor technologies to aid in the assessment of behavioral correlates of psychopathology, we sought to organize an exposition of cutting-edge work in this growing area of research. On the other hand, recognizing the potential misuse of passive sensing technologies-much like the wild west of experience sampling methodology in earlier decades-we aimed to highlight key issues related to potential pitfalls regarding the unknown reliability and validity of these measures and inferences made from their data. Along these lines, we sought to incorporate articles with null effects and those that summarized effect sizes across existing work, going beyond reliance on one-off studies with small samples. Across 14 articles and two invited commentaries, this special issue covers a wide range of applications of sensor data for understanding an array of psychopathology domains and disorders, including in depression, trauma, and serious mental illness, among others. Following a brief overview of passive sensing and its applications to clinical science, we summarize these articles, fitting them into cohesive themes, and describe their contribution to the emerging work in this area. We end with a discussion of issues worthy of further consideration in the application of these technologies to our understanding of psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).