EDDI Program

Dartmouth College

About this app

The research study has been approved by the Dartmouth College Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (Protocol number STUDY00033481). All participants provide informed consent before downloading and using the application, including consent for smartphone surveys, passive sensor data collection, background location collection, and delivery of study interventions.

The study aims to understand whether data collected during participants’ daily lives can help identify periods when an individual may be at increased risk for eating disorder behaviors. These data are used to develop personalized risk models and to deliver in-the-moment smartphone prompts encouraging participants to use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) skills that may reduce such behaviors. Participation may continue for up to five months.

Background location is an essential component of the study and of the app's core research functionality. EDDI uses background location to determine whether a participant is at home or away and to calculate the proportion of time the participant has spent at home since their previous active use of the application. This information is combined with survey and other study data to build personalized models that estimate when the participant may be at increased risk for disordered eating.

Location therefore needs to be collected during periods when participants are not actively using the app. Foreground-only location would capture information only while a participant has EDDI open and would not allow the study to measure the participant's location context between surveys or app sessions. Without this continuous data stream, the personalized risk model would have incomplete information and the app's ability to determine when an in-the-moment CBT intervention may be appropriate would be affected.

The app does not collect background location for advertising, marketing, navigation, or commercial purposes. Location data are collected solely as part of the approved research protocol and for the study's personalized risk-assessment and intervention functionality. Participants are explicitly informed of this collection and consent to it before participating.

Participants are informed about all study procedures, including surveys, passive smartphone data collection, and intervention delivery. The consent form also explains relevant considerations and potential benefits, such as greater awareness of eating disorder triggers and possible symptom improvement.

Interview, survey and smartphone sensor data may be deidentified and used for future research. Baseline and end-of-study assessments will be recorded, and deidentified information may also be used for future research and study-related training. Future uses of study data are subject to review by Dartmouth College's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects where required. Deidentified study data will also be submitted to the NIH National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA).

The study has a Certificate of Confidentiality protecting identifiable sensitive research information from disclosure outside permitted circumstances. Study information may be reviewed by authorized researchers or officials of Dartmouth College, the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS), the National Institutes of Health, and the study safety monitor.

Participants with questions about the study or a study-related injury may contact the study research director, Emily K. Presseller, at [phone] during normal business hours. Other members of the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health are also available during normal business hours.

Participation is voluntary, and participants may withdraw at any time without affecting their medical care, academic standing, or employment. Previously collected data may continue to be used as permitted by the study protocol. Participants may also be withdrawn for safety or eligibility reasons outlined in the consent form.