Using smartphones to understand emotion and behavior in autistic teens with depression
Official title: Leveraging Mobile Tools to Investigate Emotion Dynamics and Behavior in Autistic Youth with Depression
Funded at Medical College of Wisconsin · NIH-11444740 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A mobile-health study is using daily prompts and passive phone data to learn how emotions and everyday contexts relate to behavior in autistic teens, including those with depression.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Medical College of Wisconsin NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Milwaukee, United States) |
| Project start | September 10, 2026 |
| Project end | April 30, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $555,440 |
| NIH project number | 1R01HD121476-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11444740 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adolescents aged 13–17, including autistic and non-autistic individuals with or without major depressive disorder.
✕Less likely to help
Teens who do not participate or who do not experience depressive symptoms may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses a smartphone platform to collect real-time reports of mood and daily experiences from 300 adolescents aged 13–17, including autistic and non-autistic youth with and without major depression. Over six months, it will gather momentary emotion data and passive signals like movement, location, and phone use to map how feelings connect with behavior and environment. The goal is to identify real-world targets for prevention and treatment tailored to autistic teens, based on how emotions unfold in daily life. Participants will engage in ecological momentary assessments multiple times each day and contribute passive data via their phones.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could lead to more effective, real-world strategies for preventing and treating depression in autistic youth.
How similar studies have gone: Previous EMA and mobile-sensing studies have shown promise in capturing real-world emotion and behavior, supporting potential benefits of this approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Long, Erin Elizabeth — Medical College of Wisconsin
- Study coordinator: Long, Erin Elizabeth
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.