The recent experience sampling research from June is here! Keep checking this list as more articles are published.
- Adolescent Studies
- Alcohol & Drugs
- Diet & Nutrition
- Emotion & Regulation
- General Psychological Topics
- Medical Topics
- Physical Activity
- Physiological Sensors
- Psychopathy
- Smoking Cessation
- Statistics/Methodology
Adolescent Studies
Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and Adolescents’ Drinking Beliefs: Role of Message Interpretation.
589 youths participated in a 14-day ecological momentary assessment study. They were to log each time they encountered an alcohol ad, in addition to completing random surveys about how they felt about alcohol in that moment and other random times throughout the day. Results showed that ads can influence adolescents’ drinking beliefs.
In this study, 12 adolescent male athletes recorded their food intake via a food diary and a “snap-n-send” protocol, in which they took pictures of their meals before eating them. There were two separate assessment periods, each lasting four days. Overall, results showed that “snap-n-send” may be a valid and reliable method for tracking food intake in adolescents.
Emotion differentiation and its relation with emotional well-being in adolescents.
72 adolescents were assessed on their baseline emotional well-being. For two consecutive weekends, participants reported their emotional state using experience sampling methods. Results showed that differentiating negative emotions was correlated with less negativity intensity and propensity. The ability to differentiate negative emotions also predicted a belief that emotions are malleable.
Alcohol & Drugs
86 youths participated in this ecological momentary assessment study observing their associations with alcohol use disorder. They completed assessment before, during, and after drinking. Findings suggest that how youths feel when they are drinking depends on AUD severity. Those with more advanced AUD reported less craving and stress while drinking.
Context and craving during stressful events in the daily lives of drug-dependent patients.
Outpatients taking an opioid agonist completed a 16-week EMA trial. They reported any stressful events they encountered throughout each day in addition to the severity of their stress and craving. Results showed that cravings increased with stress severity. Social company and situations with high likelihood of unexpected experience produced the most severe stress.
Diet & Nutrition
Ecological momentary assessment was used to test the ecological validity of the global eating disorder scale. Negative thoughts (such as fear of losing control) were correlated with eating episodes. Overall, results support that the questionnaire global scale is valid and can be used to assess eating disorders in obese adults.
Emotion & Regulation
Being Present: Focusing on the Present Predicts Improvements in Life Satisfaction But Not Happiness.
In this experience sampling study, researchers assess whether individuals primarily focus on the past, present, or future. Additionally, they analyzed the relationship between these thoughts and the participants’ mental well-being. Results showed that participants spent a majority of their time focusing on the present (66%), and that a focus on the present predicted overall higher life satisfaction.
Dispositional Negativity in the Wild: Social Environment Governs Momentary Emotional Experience.
Smart-phone based experience sampling methods were delivered to 127 young adults representing a diverse range of dispositional negativity. Participants were assessed on moment-to-moment social situations and emotions. Results showed that individuals with high levels of dispositional negativity derive more emotional benefits from being around friends and family than their less negative counterparts.
In this review, the relatively new technique of using mobile applications for mood-monitoring was examined. Researchers examined psychometric properties, usability, and clinical impacts. Initial evidence for mobile mood-monitoring is promising, but overall, more research needs to be done to observe and determine long-term effects.
In 4 longitudinal experience sampling studies, participants reported on their levels of emotional openness. Results showed distinct outcomes for emotional suppression versus emotional expression. Emotional suppression was correlated with more interpersonal problems and greater levels of depression, while emotional expression was correlated with increases in self-esteem and relationship satisfaction.
Prospective Investigation of the Contrast Avoidance Model of Generalized Anxiety and Worry
This study examines the validity of the Contrast Avoidance Model for generalized anxiety disorder in an ecologically valid context. Using ecological momentary assessment, researchers found that higher negative contrasts predicted higher negative emotion, and that worry had a moderating effect on this. This supports the CAM model.
General Psychological Topics
Participants took part in this study over ten days, during which they reported stress levels and answered related questions concerning the last hour of their work day and their evening home life. Results showed a significant amount of stress spillover from work to home, which was moderated by a feeling of support from the person’s spouse.
Work and family role juggling and mood states of Hong Kong public health nurses with children.
In Hong Kong, 20 public health nurses(PHN) with children were recruited for this experience sampling study. For 7 days, reminders were given via a watch that beeped 6 times a day, at which point participants were to write an entry in a diary. Results showed that PHN’s had less role juggling between work and family than their American counterparts. Additionally, PHN’s were shown to have an overall flat affect.
Attentional Bias and Its Association With Anxious Mood Dynamics
In this experience sampling study, participants completed a dot-probe test in the lab, and then completed 6 days of ESM prompts. These prompts assessed temporal fluctuations of momentary levels of anxious mood and occurrence of stressful events. Results showed that attentional bias was significantly correlated with increased temporal instability of anxious mood, in addition to being associated with enhanced emotional reactivity.
Trajectories of traumatic stress symptoms during conflict: A latent class growth analysis.
Participants were drawn from the 100 Israeli civilians exposed to rocket fire in the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. They reported their trauma symptoms twice a day for 30 days. Results revealed 4 distinct classes of traumatic stress symptoms, as well as 4 specific risk factors for having higher levels of stress/traumatic stress symptoms.
Medical Topics
Ecological momentary assessment for rehabilitation of chronic illness and disability.
In this review, researchers combine results of several studies to assess the benefit of using EMA for rehabilitation of chronic illness and disability. Findings show that EMA methods optimize clinician time and reduce costs, in addition to reaching a greater number of people in need of rehabilitation measures.
In this observational study, 80 patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) participated. They engaged in 10-repetition toe flexion tests with NIRS probes on the dorsum of each foot. Results of these tests were compared to results of echo color doppler ultrasound for reliability. Results showed satisfactory diagnostic accuracy for ambulatory assessment of foot perfusion and PAD detection.
Aquatic therapy for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a pilot feasibility randomised controlled trial and mixed-methods process evaluation.In this pilot study, participants with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) between the ages of 7-16 were split into control and experimental groups. The control group underwent standard land-based therapy, while the experimental group underwent land-based therapy in addition to aquatic therapy. Semi-structured interviews of participants, parents, and professionals were conducted to assess therapy outcomes.
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This study combined methods of experience sampling with high density EEG to analyze the neural correlates of spontaneous thoughts. Across all states of consciousness, thoughts were associated with activation of a region of the midcingulate cortex. Contents of thought were also analyzed, and researchers found wakeful thought to be heavier in metacognition, while REM thought was much heavier in social context.
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Patients were given 10 beeps per day over a 6 day period. The beeps were followed by a questionnaire that assessed mood, location, activities, social context, and physical well-being of the individual. Results revealed a 71% response rate and a 99% completion rate, thus suggesting that experience sampling is a feasible method for assessing the daily lives and function of ABI patients.
Psychopathy
After hospitalization for a suicide attempt, 42 adults participated in a 7-day ecological momentary assessment trial. EMA prompts assessed environmental, contextual, behavioral factors, and suicidal ideation. Results revealed several contextual factors contributing to SI, including being at home, being at work, or being in a state of passive leisure or inactivity.
In this ecological momentary assessment study, participants reported their daily exposure to tobacco marketing. Over a ten-day period, participants were sent 3 notifications a day. Results showed that young adults are exposed to a large amount of tobacco advertisements weekly.
55 depressed adults participated in this experience sampling study, in which they rated their activities and emotional functionality 8 times daily for 7 days. Participants demonstrated increased resilience, and diminished reactivity to stressors post-treatment. Results support the feasibility of using ESM in psychotherapy research.
In this experience sampling study, participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were assessed on paranoid symptoms, perceived deservedness of persecution, self-esteem, mood, and stress levels in their daily lives. Results showed that patients possessing a “poor-me” paranoia were shielded from the effects of social stress.
Women with anorexia nervosa participated in a two-week EMA protocol. EMA prompts consisted of questions about their eating behaviors as well their appearance-related stress. Results showed that appearance-focused events predicted eating disorder behaviors such as binge eating and vomiting.
Participants underwent mobile heart rate monitoring while concurrently reporting their levels of negative affect through EMA prompts. Multilevel modeling showed that PTSD symptom severity was positively associated with NA-related autonomic arousal, suggesting that NA-related autonomic arousal is a prominent mediating factor for cardiovascular risk in PTSD patients.
Emotional dynamics of depression and bipolar disorder were compared to those of borderline personality disorder. Participants reported their emotions and interpersonal challenges 5 times a day for 2 weeks. Multilevel analysis showed that heightened reactivity to guilt and shame were specific to borderline personality disorder.
Physical Activity
First year university students participated in a 5 day trial to assess their physical activity. They wore an accelerometer for the length of the trial, in addition to receiving EMA prompts 7 times a day to their smartphone. Compliance with wearing the accelerometer was high; however, compliance with completing the EMA questions was not as desirable. Overall, this seemed to be a feasible method for studying physical activity in young, college-aged adults.
Physiological Sensors
Smoking Cessation
In this study, participants were randomized into active and placebo groups for progesterone. Using EMA, they reported on their mood and smoking-related symptomatology. Results showed a significant relationship between mood, smoking-related symptomatology, childbirth, breastfeeding, and relapse.
Statistics/Methodology
Reliability and validity analyses of the North Star Ambulatory Assessment in Brazilian Portuguese.
The North Star Ambulatory Assessment is used to assess motor performance in adolescent boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. To test its validity in Brazil, it was cross-culturally adapted to the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil and given to 35 boys with DMD and 38 control subjects. Analysis of the data revealed the Portuguese adaptation to be an accurate and valid test.
Data from 72 subjects was collected and analyzed for this study. The GPS-based location of an EMA response of being “home” was compared with the geocoded home address. Results indicated that 88% of responses were within a half mile of the home, and 55% of responses were within a 16th of a mile of the home.
In this study, researchers attempt to promote “voluntary simplicity” through ecological momentary intervention methods. The intervention lasts one week, during which time participants watch user-generated voluntary simplicity videos, which are predicted to reduce nonessential consumption. Participants will undergo baseline and post-intervention evaluations of: voluntary simplicity attitudes and behaviors, buying and shopping behaviors, values and goals in reducing consumption, and life satisfaction. Experience sampling will monitor affective state during the intervention
Regression Tree Analysis of Ecological Momentary Assessment Data.
Though multilevel modeling has traditionally been used for analyzing data from ecological momentary assessment studies, regression tree analysis may be a better option. Specifically, RTM may be a good option for researchers in the health psychology field. In this study, RTM is compared to MLM, and its limitations are examined and discussed.
In this study, researchers will examine the feasibility and success of treating depression using “blended care.” This method of treatment involves an eight-week web-based program, which consists of behavioral activation with integrated monitoring of depressive symptomatology. EMA methods will be used to gather data on emotion and affect fluctuation during the treatment and following treatment.