Privacy-Preserving Social Ambiance Measure From Free-Living Speech Associates With Chronic Depressive and Psychotic Disorders.

Wenwan Chen,Erica Taylor,Ankit B Patel,Nidal Moukaddam,Ashutosh Sabharwal

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.670020

Wenwan Chen, Erica Taylor + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.670020

Copy DOI

Abstract

A social interaction consists of contributions by the individual, the environment and the interaction between the two. Ideally, to enable effective assessment and interventions for social isolation, an issue inherent to depressive and psychotic illnesses, the isolation must be identified in real-time and at an individual level. However, research addressing sociability deficits is largely focused on determining loneliness, rather than isolation, and lacks focus on the richness of the social environment the individual revolves in. In this paper, We describe the development of an automated, objective and privacy-preserving Social Ambiance Measure (SAM) that converts unconstrained audio recordings collected from wrist-worn audio-bands into four levels, ranging from none to active. The ambiance levels are based on the number of simultaneous speakers, which is a proxy for overall social activity in the environment. Results show that social ambiance patterns and time spent at each ambiance level differed between participants with depressive or psychotic disorders and healthy controls. Individuals with depression/psychosis spent less time in diverse environments and less time in moderate/active ambiance levels. Moreover, social ambiance patterns are found associated with the severity of self-reported depression, anxiety symptoms and personality traits. The results in this paper suggest that objectively measured social ambiance can be used as a marker of sociability, and holds potential to be leveraged to better understand social isolation and develop effective interventions for sociability challenges, thus improving mental health outcomes.

Highlights

It is well-appreciated that, along with biological and psychological factors, social factors contribute to negative mental health outcomes [1]
Research shows that a richer social ambiance is associated with better mental health [8], and enriching social ambiance is a fundamental element in the treatment of mental illness [9], whether by social skills training or cognitive behavioral therapy [10]
Depression and anxiety were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)

Summary

Introduction

It is well-appreciated that, along with biological and psychological factors, social factors contribute to negative mental health outcomes [1]. Social isolation is predictive of greater mental health difficulties for both elders [2] and children [3]. Isolated individuals are more likely to suffer from depression, loneliness, stress and anxiety [4]. Specific elements of social interaction and role functioning, are essential components of mental illness, though the mechanisms of developing sociability impairments may be different across disorders (such as depressive disorders, psychotic disorders, autism spectrum, attention-deficit disorders, etc.). A social interaction consists of elements brought by the individual, the environment, and the interaction between the two. While the first element focuses on developing and maintaining relationships (e.g., the Global Functioning Scale, the First Episode Social Functioning Scale) [5], the second addresses the environment and ambiance in which the social interactions of interest are happening. The mere presence of another individual can alleviate stress, but if a person is uncomfortable around others, lacks the ability to initiate/maintain a conversation, or to initiate social activity, this refuge will be absent from their lives [11]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion