Social Processes in Wellbeing (SoWell): A Survey and Ecological Momentary Assessment Twin Study

Background: The Social Processes in Wellbeing (SoWell) study is an (intensive) longitudinal twin study designed to examine relationships between social and environmental factors, mental health and wellbeing over time, and to address the genetic contribution to these associations. Methods: A total of approximately 14,000 individuals from the Norwegian Twin Registry (NTR) will be invited to participate in the study. Comprehensive assessment of individual characteristics, wellbeing, mental health, social factors, and environmental factors will be conducted using a baseline online survey. Two longitudinal follow-up surveys will be conducted 6 and 12 months after baseline. In addition, participants will be invited to take part in an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) component of the study. The EMA data collection comprises four measurements per day for 30 days (yielding up to 120 observations per person) to collect data on mental health and social and environmental factors in daily life. The SoWell data collection can additionally be linked to previous studies conducted in the NTR and population registry data, facilitating longitudinal analyses of how social and environmental factors relate to mental health and wellbeing over time in daily life, across months, and over years. The genetically informative twin sample allows for analyses which account for unmeasured confounding and yield insights into genetic and environmental underpinnings of mental health, wellbeing, and socio-environmental influences. Discussion: The SoWell study aims to provide new knowledge about how social and environmental factors relate to mental health and wellbeing over time. The study will integrate comprehensive measures of both wellbeing and mental health problems and is well-suited for conducting genetically informed analyses. An integrated longitudinal survey and EMA approach in a genetically informative sample represents an innovative design with unprecedented opportunities for studying associations between mental health, wellbeing, environmental and genetic factors.