Capturing Parental Wellbeing in Everyday Life Through a Mobile Diary App

March 12, 2026 updated by: Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences

Parental Wellbeing in Everyday Life: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study on the Wellbeing of Parents of Children Aged 0 - 12 in Switzerland

This observational study investigates the wellbeing of parents in German-speaking Switzerland in everyday contexts using smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Family caregiving can be both rewarding and burdensome, yet little is known about how parental wellbeing fluctuates in daily life and across caregiving situations. The study aims to examine momentary subjective wellbeing, caregiving activities, and contextual factors in natural settings. Participants complete repeated real-time assessments via a digital diary application five times a day over a 14-day study period. The study seeks to characterize within-person variability in parental wellbeing and identify contextual factors associated with positive and negative daily experiences.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Family caregiving is essential for individual and societal wellbeing but is often associated with ambivalent experiences, including both reward and overload. However, parental wellbeing has rarely been examined using intensive longitudinal, real-time methodologies.

This observational study uses Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to capture parents' subjective wellbeing in their natural environments. Participants complete five smartphone-based assessments per day over the 14-day study period. Measures include momentary wellbeing, emotions, (caregiving) activities, as well as rewarding and challenging situations.

The EMA approach minimizes retrospective bias and enables the investigation of within-person fluctuations and context-dependent variations in wellbeing. The study aims to identify patterns of daily parental wellbeing and examine associations between caregiving contexts and subjective experiences. Findings are expected to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of parental wellbeing in everyday life and inform future support approaches.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Switzerland
      • Sankt Gallen, Switzerland
        • Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Parents of children aged between 0 months - 11 years and 11 months living in Switzerland.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Parents living in Switzerland

  • with at least one child aged between 0 months - 11 years and 11 months
  • German-speaking
  • any form of parenting
  • any relationship status
  • any form of couples or other forms of cohabitation
  • No restrictions regarding nationality, wealth, external childcare, employment (full-time, part-time or homemaker) or similar characteristics.

Participants must have a smartphone with internet access to participate in the mobile diary study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • All Children > 11 years and 11 months of age
  • Not German speaking
  • Swiss nationality but living abroad
  • No smartphone with internet access

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Parents of children aged between 0 months - 11 years and 11 months living in Switzerland.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Momentary Parental Subjective Wellbeing
Time Frame: Repeated assessments three times per day during the 14-day EMA monitoring period.
Momentary wellbeing assessed via smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) three times daily. The measure includes multiple bipolar affective rating items (tired-awake, satisfied-unsatisfied, calm-restless, energized-exhausted, relaxed-tense, well-unwell, stressed-not stressed) and an emotion wheel. Items are rated in real time to capture current subjective wellbeing in naturalistic settings. The focus is on observing within-subject fluctuations in well-being throughout the study period and how these are influenced by various contextual factors (e.g., time use, childcare support, sleep).
Repeated assessments three times per day during the 14-day EMA monitoring period.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sleep satisfaction
Time Frame: Assessed each morning during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported sleep satisfaction ("How satisfied were you with your sleep last night?" Items: "very dissatisfied", "dissatisfied", "neutral", "satisfied", "very satisfied")
Assessed each morning during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Number of sleep interruptions
Time Frame: Assessed each morning during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported number of nocturnal awakenings.
Assessed each morning during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
End-of-day global satisfaction
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Daily overall satisfaction ("How satisfied were you with your day overall?" Scale: 0 - 10, endpoints "very dissatisfied" - "very satisfied")
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Daily caregiving load and time allocation
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported hours spent in childcare, additional care work, and time available for personal interests.
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Perceived support in childcare
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported receipt of support from partner or other persons in childcare. ("Today, I received support from my partner with childcare." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always" and "Today I received help from people other than my partner) with childcare." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always")
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Available parenting resources
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported availability of resources ("Today, I lacked the resources (e.g., time, energy) to take care of my children." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always")
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Parental conflicts
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported conflicts with partner ("My partner and I had misunderstandings, tensions, or arguments." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always")
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Child behavior
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported positive and negative child behavior ("I shared positive moments with my children." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always" and "I shared difficult moments with my children." Scale: 0-100, endpoints "Not at all" - "Always")
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Rewarding and challenging situations for parents
Time Frame: Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period
Self-reported experience of rewarding and challenging sutiations, description of the situation(s) with text
Assessed each evening during the 14-day EMA monitoring period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Matthias Baldauf, PhD, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 220608-1
  • 220608 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Study protocol, data dictionary, diary study data

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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