Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues
Background While anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental diseases, they are often overlooked due to shortcomings of the existing diagnostic procedures, which predominantly rely on self-reporting. Due to recent technological advances, this source of information could be complemented by...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Digital Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241297006 |
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| author | Urška Smrke Izidor Mlakar Ana Rehberger Leon Žužek Nejc Plohl |
| author_facet | Urška Smrke Izidor Mlakar Ana Rehberger Leon Žužek Nejc Plohl |
| author_sort | Urška Smrke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background While anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental diseases, they are often overlooked due to shortcomings of the existing diagnostic procedures, which predominantly rely on self-reporting. Due to recent technological advances, this source of information could be complemented by the so-called observable cues – indicators that are displayed spontaneously through individuals’ physiological responses or behaviour and can be detected by modern devices. However, while there are several individual studies on such cues, this research area lacks a synthesis. In line with this, our scoping review aimed to identify observable cues that offer meaningful insight into individuals’ anxiety and to determine how these cues can be measured. Methods We followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. The search string containing terms related to anxiety and observable cues was entered into four databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, ERIC, IEEE). While the search – limited to English peer-reviewed records published from 2012 onwards – initially yielded 2311 records, only 33 articles fit our selection criteria and were included in the final synthesis. Results The scoping review unravelled various categories of observable cues of anxiety, specifically those related to facial expressions, speech and language, breathing, skin, heart, cognitive control, sleep, activity and motion, location data and smartphone use. Moreover, we identified various approaches for measuring these cues, including wearable devices, and analysing smartphone usage and social media activity. Conclusions Our scoping review points to several physiological and behavioural cues associated with anxiety and highlights how these can be measured. These novel insights may be helpful for healthcare practitioners and fuel future research and technology development. However, as many cues were investigated only in a single study, more evidence is needed to generalise these findings and implement them into practice with greater confidence. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0dca014fb3b24c338b0f6e873545e89c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2055-2076 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Digital Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-0dca014fb3b24c338b0f6e873545e89c2025-08-20T01:53:25ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762024-11-011010.1177/20552076241297006Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cuesUrška Smrke0Izidor Mlakar1Ana Rehberger2Leon Žužek3Nejc Plohl4 Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Center for Cognitive Science, Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Maribor, SloveniaBackground While anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental diseases, they are often overlooked due to shortcomings of the existing diagnostic procedures, which predominantly rely on self-reporting. Due to recent technological advances, this source of information could be complemented by the so-called observable cues – indicators that are displayed spontaneously through individuals’ physiological responses or behaviour and can be detected by modern devices. However, while there are several individual studies on such cues, this research area lacks a synthesis. In line with this, our scoping review aimed to identify observable cues that offer meaningful insight into individuals’ anxiety and to determine how these cues can be measured. Methods We followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. The search string containing terms related to anxiety and observable cues was entered into four databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, ERIC, IEEE). While the search – limited to English peer-reviewed records published from 2012 onwards – initially yielded 2311 records, only 33 articles fit our selection criteria and were included in the final synthesis. Results The scoping review unravelled various categories of observable cues of anxiety, specifically those related to facial expressions, speech and language, breathing, skin, heart, cognitive control, sleep, activity and motion, location data and smartphone use. Moreover, we identified various approaches for measuring these cues, including wearable devices, and analysing smartphone usage and social media activity. Conclusions Our scoping review points to several physiological and behavioural cues associated with anxiety and highlights how these can be measured. These novel insights may be helpful for healthcare practitioners and fuel future research and technology development. However, as many cues were investigated only in a single study, more evidence is needed to generalise these findings and implement them into practice with greater confidence.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241297006 |
| spellingShingle | Urška Smrke Izidor Mlakar Ana Rehberger Leon Žužek Nejc Plohl Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues Digital Health |
| title | Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues |
| title_full | Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues |
| title_fullStr | Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues |
| title_short | Decoding anxiety: A scoping review of observable cues |
| title_sort | decoding anxiety a scoping review of observable cues |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241297006 |
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