The article, “A Qualitative Exploration of Attitudes Toward Global Positioning System Tracking and Ecological Momentary Assessment Among Individuals in Substance Use Treatment” has been published in SAj.
In this article, the authors detail their findings from qualitative interviews with 30 individuals in substance use treatment programs regarding their opinions on participating in a study that involved GPS tracking and ecological momentary assessment to better understand place-based, environmental factors that may predict substance use. The authors relay the concerns and benefits as described by participants and the resulting implications for this type of research.
In the AUTHORS’ OWN WORDS, they relate the importance of their work:
“Few previous studies have used global positioning system (GPS) tracking in concert with ecological momentary assessment (ie, the use of mobile devices to administer frequent surveys on real-world experiences) to measure the real-time exposure to such triggers or their subsequent effects on return to use. This combination of tracking technology provides an opportunity to look at the duration and frequency of exposure to triggers and other aspects of the “environmental context” on recovery and return to use.6”
“To our knowledge, researchers have not explored in depth the attitudes and perceptions of people in SUD treatment on the use of such tracking technology, especially GPS tracking, for research purposes. Charron et al16 recently found high levels of acceptability for different sensing technologies, but did not examine attitudes toward more active methodologies (ie, ecological momentary assessment).”