(Photo: TIME)
Preliminary findings from the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge’s Digital Mental Health Study (DMHS) were featured in a May 2, 2024, Time publication focused on the 2024 TIME100 Most Influential People in Health. The inaugural list recognizes individuals for their influence in global health through innovation, impact and achievement, identifying leaders who are “dedicated to creating tangible, credible change for a healthier population.”
In its writeup, Time highlighted the “landmark” Apple health studies that “inform health features pushed to tens of millions of users,” including the Digital Mental Health Study conducted in collaboration with the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge.
The DMHS is a study of more than 3,000 participants, kicked off in 2020. The goal of the study is to understand the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms and objective measures like sleep and activity as measured by iPhone and Apple Watch.
The study’s early findings indicate that more time sitting, more time at home, less time exercising, and later sleep times are associated with higher rates of depression, per Time.
And, regularly reporting mood “increased emotional awareness” in 80% of DMHS participants, and half of DMHS participants said that the reports had a positive impact on their well-being.
