Wearable Neurofeedback Acceptance Model: An Investigation within Academic Settings to Explore a Multimodal Framework for Student Stress and Anxiety Management

Mental health, seen as an integral part of our general well-being, can be considered critically important for everyone, everywhere. Restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic brought extra significant mental health consequences, including increased difficulty for students to handle stress and anxiety. The use of non-invasive techniques, such as real-time wearable biofeedback and neurofeedback devices, have been suggested to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder in this vulnerable population. In this vein, there is a need to study the main predictors regarding acceptance and intention to use innovative multimodal devices for stress and anxiety management, in particular. This study examines the technology acceptance of a proposed multimodal wearable sensing framework, namely mSense, for student stress and anxiety management, within a non-invasive real-time neurofeedback context, taking into consideration the views and perspectives of related stakeholders. Adopting the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), an empirical study was set and an online survey was designed and developed by a multidisciplinary team, based on a co-creation approach. The mSense-related path relationships of the TAM key-constructs (i.e., usage attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention to use), and the corresponding path hypotheses were validated and tested with data collected from 106 higher education students, health researchers, medical doctors/health professionals, and software developers/engineers, using a simple random sampling technique. Apart from extensive quantitative statistical analysis applying Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling, a qualitative analysis was also performed applied to the open-ended survey responses. Using such mixed method approach, the technology acceptance of the mSense framework was evaluated and determinants were identified, justifying the main hypothesis of its acceptance as an assistive framework for neurofeedback-based stress and anxiety management. The study contributes to the exploration and examination of the factors that influence user intention to use a novel and promising multimodal wearable device for anxiety and stress management. It also offers several important theoretical, managerial and practical implications, which can be generalized to extended usage of such multichannel technologies and innovative sensors in clinical practice and educational settings, towards technology-based physical and mental health support.