Stay up to date on the recent experience sampling research from March! Articles are categorized by topic.
- Adolescent Studies
- Alcohol & Drugs
- Diet & Nutrition
- Emotion & Regulation
- General Psychological Topics
- Medical Topics
- Physical Activity
- Psychopathy
- Statistics/Methodology
Adolescent Studies
This study applied the use of an exploratory latent profile analysis to EMA data in order to find an appropriate method for identifying invalid responses. They found that electronic diary data should be screened for invariant responding; additionally, it should be noted when more than one internal state might affect the mood of an adolescent.
Alcohol & Drugs
This daily diary study analyzed the relationship between alcohol use and partner aggression in couples. They found that verbal intimate partner aggression was a proximal predictor of alcohol use for both the victim and for the perpetrator. However, this association was highly dependent on the individual’s perception of intimate partner aggression.
Diet & Nutrition
Food cravings in everyday life: An EMA study on snack-related thoughts, cravings, and consumption.
This EMA study analyzed food craving experiences in 61 participants five times a day for seven days. They found that high trait food cravers thought about high-calorie rather than low-calorie snacks, while high trait food cravers also had a stronger relationship between craving intensity and snack-related thoughts.
This EMA study followed 189 adults enrolled in a 12-month weight loss program. Participants responded to questions regarding affect, environment, and situations. They found that dietary lapses occurred most often at home, in the evening, and on the weekend. Additionally, greater assessed affective and environmental triggers predicted lapses.
Higher BMI is associated with stronger effects of social cues on everyday snacking behaviour.
In this EMA study, 122 participants reported their everyday snacking behavior and social cues for two weeks. They found that individuals with a higher BMI were more likely to eat high-energy snacks when they were alone, but low-energy snacks in the presence of others.
Emotion & Regulation
Daily emotional stress reactivity in emerging adulthood: temporal stability and its predictors.
In this daily diary study, 540 undergraduate students participated in an annual 30 day daily diary study for four years. They reported negative affect, stress, and various moderators. The researchers found that stress reactivity was relatively stable over the four years, while changes in neuroticism and overall stress predicted changes in stress-reactivity.
In this daily diary study, adult women reported the most stressful event of their day, their use of suppression or avoidance in that event, and their early adversity in their childhood family environment. They found that more early adversity in childhood predicted greater use of avoidance and suppression for women with more attentional capacity.
For this experience sampling study, goal conflict, life purpose, and emotion were monitored in 73 participants. They found that goal conflict was negatively related to life-purpose, while mixed emotion weakened that relationship.
General Psychological Topics
Daily Spillover From Family to Work: A Test of the Work–Home Resources Model.
This study analyzed daily family hassles and family-work spillover, and their effect on the relationship between job resources and flourishing at work. They found that there was a significant positive relationship between morning job resources and afternoon flourishing when there were few previous day family hassles.
This daily diary study examined the impact of received social support and given social support on self-reassurance. For seven days, 99 students responded to prompts about self-reassurance, received support, and given support. They found that individuals who received and gave more support were relatively more self-reassuring.
For this EMA study, two individuals with mobility disabilities responded to four prompts a day. The researchers then analyzed the effect of contingent contracts and performance feedback on completion of EMA surveys.
This experience sampling study examined the effect of college students’ seating location on their engagement, attention, and more. They found that students sitting in the back had lower engagement, attention, and an overall lower classroom experience; additionally, they tended to receive lower grades than students sitting in the middle or towards the front.
Episodic Demands, Resources, and Engagement: An Experience-Sampling Study.
In this experience sampling study, employees’ characteristics, engagement, and performance surveys were monitored for one week. They found that engagement was positively correlated to performance.
This ecological momentary assessment examined life satisfaction, affect, stress, and salivary cortisol samples in 115 working adults. They found that individuals with higher life satisfaction had better affect and less stress.
This study utilized experience sampling methodology to monitor symptom experience, affect, and activity management patterns for six days in individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome. They found that symptom experiences appeared to influence patient activity management patterns, which agreed with the cognitive-behavioral model of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Medical Topics
In this ambulatory and ecological momentary assessment study, fatigue severity, sleep quality, stressors, mood, and physical exertion were analyzed in 76 relapsing-remitting participants with multiple sclerosis. They found that there were multiple relationships between all of the factors, including an association between high levels of fatigue and negative mood.
This study used EMA to analyze the pattern of pain intensity in individuals with facial and head pain and its relation to weather changes. Eleven patients with muscle pain and twenty patients with migraines reported their current pain level every hour for fourteen days, and the researchers found that pain intensity was negatively associated with atmospheric pressure for patients with muscle pain, but positively associated with temperature and pressure for patients with migraines.
Physical Activity
In this daily diary study, the effect of cognitive flexibility on physical activity was analyzed using activity substitution. 128 college students reported physical activity for two weeks and also reported whether or not they performed an alternative activity when they did not perform the planned activity. They found that greater cognitive flexibility was connected to greater flexible self-regulation, resulting in more physical activity.
In this EMA study, 79 young, healthy adults reported stress levels and had their activity monitored for 12 months.The researchers found that there was an inverse relationship between exercise and stress. Additionally, an increase in stress resulted in a decreased likelihood of exercise the following day.
Psychopathy
Sleep quality in healthy and mood-disordered persons predicts daily life emotional reactivity.
This study utilized the experience sampling method to analyze sleep and emotional responses to daily life in participants with major/minor unipolar depressive disorder. They found that sleep difficulties were related to higher negative affect in all types of events, as compared to controls in which there was only enhanced negative affect with unpleasant events.
What Can Daily Life Assessment Tell Us About the Bipolar Spectrum?
This experience sampling study examined bipolar spectrum psychopathology (BSP) in 294 young adults eight times a day for one week. Participants responded to surveys regarding affect, confidence, racing thoughts, energy, and impulsivity. They found that BSP was associated with disruptions in behaviors, affect, and thoughts.
A Daily Diary Study of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Romantic Partner Accommodation.
This daily diary study investigated romantic partner accommodation on posttraumatic stress symptoms. Military servicemen with symptoms of PTSD and their romantic partners participated in a two week daily diary study, and the researchers found that earlier PTSD symptoms were positively associated with accommodation later on.
In this EMA study, researchers monitored nonsuicidal self-injury and affect for eight days in individuals with borderline personality disorder. They found that nonsuicidal self-injury may be reinforced by its affect stabilization activity.
This EMA study analyzed the relationship between non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and the number of negative emotions and opposing valence emotions in 107 youth aged 15-25 years. They found that changes in negative emotions corresponded to distress levels before and after NSSI thoughts and behaviors.
What can daily life assessment tell us about the bipolar spectrum?
In this experience sampling study, 294 young adults completed eight surveys a day for one week regarding affect, confidence, racing thoughts, energy, and impulsivity. These attributes are all characteristic of bipolar spectrum psychopathology. Researchers found that disruptions in affect, behaviors, and thoughts were associated with bipolar spectrum psychopathology.
This experience sampling study measured psychotic and affective reactivity to stressful activities in individuals with clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR), individuals with a psychotic disorder, and healthy controls. They found a stronger relationship between negative affect and activity-related stress in CHR patients and between activity-related stress and psychotic symptoms.
Stress, overeating, and obesity: Insights from human studies and preclinical models.
This article analyzed the use of EMA to study stress exposure and binge eating. Research has found a strong link between stress, negative affect, and binge eating in the lab and in the natural environment.
This experience sampling study examined the relationship between alcohol-related outcomes and daily PTSD symptom severity in individuals recovering from a traumatic physical injury. They found that there was a relationship between PTSD symptom severity and alcohol craving/negative consequences.
Mapping the frequency and severity of depressive behaviors in preschool-aged children.
This daily diary studied the frequency and severity of depressive behaviors and impairment in preschool-aged children. By having 291 parents complete daily diaries, they found that some behaviors were normative, such as sadness, irritability, and tearfulness/sensitivity. Conversely, behaviors such as low interest/pleasure and low self-worth were less normative.
Statistics/Methodology
This EMA study analyzed the feasibility and acceptability of EMA in recently discharged individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders. For four weeks, 65 individuals responded to mobile prompts. They found that the only significant predictor of lower EMA completion was recent cannabis use. Acceptability feedback was mostly positive and 28-31% of assessments were completed.
In this three part daily diary study, other-directed, lighthearted, intellectual, and whimsical playfulness were analyzed in adults. In order to do this, they used a 28-item questionnaire (the OLIW). They found that the OLIW was useful and provided reliable, valid data.
Family Assessment Device: Real-World Validity in Urban Families of Children With Asthma.
This study used EMA to evaluate the Family Assessment Device in urban families of children with asthma. They found that FAD was an ecologically valid measure to use for these families and its assessments were predictive of what was happening in everyday life.
In this EMA study, multilevel modeling was used to analyze intensive longitudinal data. They found that the multilevel models yielded highly biased estimates regarding random intercepts and fixed intercepts when heterogeneous covariances were incorrectly classified as homogenous independent or homogenous autoregressive.
In this EMA study, the steps necessary to develop and implement an EMA study were analyzed. They examined the triggers of lapses and relapse after intentional weight loss for twelve months in 151 adults. They were able to outline optimal frequency and scheduling of EMA prompts in addition to data collection procedures.
This future study will implement EMA methods to measure extinction and potential moderators in exposure-based treatments for people with anxiety disorders. They will utilize a randomized clinical trial involving up to 700 patients.