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Exploring the Impact of Wearable Devices on Perceived Stress and Health Anxiety in Daily Life
Ropers, Toya (2025) Exploring the Impact of Wearable Devices on Perceived Stress and Health Anxiety in Daily Life.
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| Abstract: | The growing popularity of wearable devices, particularly smartwatches, for monitoring stress raises questions about their psychological effects. This study aimed to examine whether receiving physiological stress feedback influences individuals perceived stress and health anxiety in everyday life. Specifically, it addressed three research questions: (1) How does wearing a smartwatch affect retrospective perceptions of stress? (2) Does it impact health anxiety levels? (3) How does it influence perceived stress in daily life? The study was a two-week within-subject design with 70 participants. They wore a wearable during one of the two weeks, depending on the group allocation. Participants filled out retrospective questionnaires, the ones relevant for this study are the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI). They also completed assessments via an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) app four times a day. Linear mixed models showed a significant decrease in PSS and SHAI scores from baseline, which was the initial meeting, to the wearable condition, the week the wearable was worn. However, there were no significant differences between the wearable and no wearable week, nor in the ambulatory perceived stress measured by ESM. The findings suggest that wearable stress feedback does not elevate perceived stress or health anxiety in healthy individuals and may even enhance short-term stress awareness. Future research should examine long-term use and engagement by the participants, to understand the full psychological implications when tracking stress using wearables. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/107074 |
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