Publications our peer-reviewed work.

Pervasive Health 2026

Mood and money are closely intertwined in bipolar disorder (BD), yet it remains unclear whether financial behaviour provides reliable mood-contingent signals, and it is largely absent from digital phenotyping research. Advances in open banking enable objective, passive measurement of financial behaviour at scale. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 (11 UK, 4 Ireland, 4 Nigeria) adults with BD to examine how mood manifests in financial behaviour, identify potential financial mood markers, and explore data-sharing preferences. Participants reported distinct mood-related changes in spending and reciprocal effects of money on mood. Three themes emerged: (i) symptomatic drivers shaped by credit access, seasonality, and social context; (ii) candidate markers such as transaction frequency, timing, category, and amount; and (iii) conditional willingness by most participants to share data influenced by privacy, anonymity, and granularity. High-mood spending reflected goal pursuit, generosity, and insomnia, while depression involved both reduced spending and retail therapy, challenging simple bidirectional assumptions. These findings provide empirical insight into financial data as a potential mood marker and inform future research and privacy-sensitive data collection.

CHI 2025

Symptomatic financial behavior in bipolar disorder can increase stress, worsen symptoms, and hinder recovery. While spending sprees signal high mood states, research on personal experiences remains limited. This study explores mood-spending dynamics through semi-structured interviews in Ireland and Nigeria (N=5, projected N=10), assessing geo-economic influences and data-sharing preferences for future research. Participants reported varied impulsive spending patterns and emphasized privacy, security, and transparency in financial data sharing. These findings highlight the need for protective financial technologies for vulnerable individuals

CHI 2024

Financial stability is a key challenge for individuals living with bipolar disorder (BD). Symptomatic periods in BD are associated with poor financial decision-making, contributing to a negative cycle of worsening symptoms and an increased risk of bankruptcy. There has been an increased focus on designing supportive financial technologies (fintech) to address varying and intermittent needs across different stages of BD. However, little is known about this population’s expectations and privacy preferences related to financial data sharing for longitudinal care management. To address this knowledge gap, we have deployed a factorial vignette survey using the Contextual Integrity framework. Our data from individuals with BD (N=480) shows that they are open to sharing financial data for long term care management. We have also identified significant differences in sharing preferences across age, gender, and diagnostic subtype. We discuss the implications of these findings in designing equitable fintech to support this marginalized community.

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Financial stability is a key challenge for individuals with mental illnesses. Symptomatic periods often manifest in poor financial decision-making including compulsive spending and risky behaviors. This article explores research opportunities and challenges in developing financial technologies (FinTech) to support individuals with mental health. Specifically, we focus on how objective financial data might lead to novel mental health assessment and intervention methods. We have used data from one individual with bipolar disorder (BD) (i.e., an N = 1 case study) to illustrate feasibility of collecting and analyzing objective financial data alongside mental health factors. While we have not found statistically significant trends nor our findings are generalizable beyond this case, our approach provides an insight into the potential of using objective financial data to identify early warning signs and thereby, enable preemptive care for individuals with serious mental illnesses. We have also identified challenges of accessing objective financial data. The paper outlines what data is currently available, what can be done with it, and what factors to consider when working with financial data. We have also explored future directions for developing interventions to support financial well-being and stability. Furthermore, we have described the technical, ethical, and equity challenges for financial data-driven assessments and intervention methods, as well as provided a broad research agenda to address these challenges.