Effect of brief, personalized feedback derived from momentary data on the mental health of women with risk of common mental disorders in Hong Kong: A randomized clinical trial

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of digitalized personalized feedback derived from experience sam-pling method (ESM) data for improving women's mental health and to explore its potential to become a pre-vention intervention. In this three-arm, randomized controlled trial, 124 adult women aged 18 to 64 years with mild to moderate depressive and anxiety symptoms were randomly assigned to ESM with personalized feedback (ESM-f, 40 women), ESM alone (ESM, 43 women), or no additional intervention (control, 41 women). The ESM-f and ESM groups received six weeks of ESM, but only the former received biweekly individualized feedback. The primary outcome measure was changes in mental well-being as measured by the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) from baseline to 8, 12, 16, 20, and 32 weeks and the comparison between the ESM-f and the control group. The ESM-f group experienced a significantly greater decline in DASS-21 total scores compared with the control group while the ESM and control groups had a comparable decline in DASS-21 total scores. ESM-derived personalized feedback can improve women's mental well-being. Additional research is needed to determine its cost-effectiveness, long-term consequences, and efficacy as a preventive intervention for common mental disorders.