A multilevel meta-analysis of passive smartphone sensing of adolescent mental health
Merel M. L. Leijse, Aaliyah Hansen, Imara K. Semeijn, Eleonore Breuning, Janneke P. C. Staaks, Thimo M. van der Pol, Geert-Jan J. M. Stams, Arne Popma, Levi van Dam · 2026
Read A multilevel meta-analysis of passive smartphone sensing of adolescent mental health by Merel M. L. Leijse, Aaliyah Hansen, Imara K. Semeijn, Eleonore Breuning, Janneke P. C. Staaks, Thimo M. van der Pol, Geert-Jan J. M. Stams, Arne Popma, Levi van Dam (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13473440.txt.
Description
Merel Leijse and eight co-authors published a multilevel meta-analysis in 2026 on whether the data phones quietly collect can signal teenagers' mental health. Phones log movement, calls, and notifications all day, offering a window on behavior between clinic visits. Studies had piled up without a pooled verdict on how strong the signal really is.
Across forty-five samples and nearly three thousand adolescents aged twelve to twenty-four, the overall link between sensed behavior and mental health outcomes was small but real. Most data types carried some signal, though contact counts did not, and language features leaned the other way. Links ran stronger in community samples than in student samples. The authors present sensing as a promising early-warning aid, not a diagnosis machine.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Merel M. L. Leijse, Aaliyah Hansen, Imara K. Semeijn, Eleonore Breuning, Janneke P. C. Staaks, Thimo M. van der Pol, Geert-Jan J. M. Stams, Arne Popma, Levi van Dam |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 61 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |