The Use of Ecological Momentary Assessment Techniques to Capture Experience in Real-Time Kate Gunthert Department of Psychology

Assessing Human Behavior Tradition of single-administration questionnaires Tradition of single-administration questionnaires Self-report, usually retrospective, covering long periods of time Self-report, usually retrospective, covering long periods of time Most psychological variables fluctuate (mood, stress, self-esteem) Most psychological variables fluctuate (mood, stress, self-esteem) Need better tools Need better tools

Real-Time Data Capture Ecological Momentary Assessment, Experience Sampling Ecological Momentary Assessment, Experience Sampling Repeated assessments over the course of time while people are functioning within their natural settings Repeated assessments over the course of time while people are functioning within their natural settings Paper diaries, Palm Pilots, cell phones, interactive voice response systems, web- based assessments Paper diaries, Palm Pilots, cell phones, interactive voice response systems, web- based assessments

My Work: Daily Stress Responses and Depression Vulnerability Studies investigating how everyday patterns of responding to stress relate to depression vulnerability and recovery Studies investigating how everyday patterns of responding to stress relate to depression vulnerability and recovery Intensive daily assessment designs to get rich picture of everyday functioning Intensive daily assessment designs to get rich picture of everyday functioning Follow people intensively and see what happens to mood when confronted with a stressor in their naturalistic setting Follow people intensively and see what happens to mood when confronted with a stressor in their naturalistic setting Should help us better identify risk factors Should help us better identify risk factors Idea = tough to capture processes like coping and emotion regulation with single administration questionnaires Idea = tough to capture processes like coping and emotion regulation with single administration questionnaires

We’ve assessed: Stress Stress Coping behavior Coping behavior Mood Mood Eating behavior Eating behavior Self-Esteem Self-Esteem Negative and Positive Thinking Negative and Positive Thinking Feelings of Dependency Feelings of Dependency Interpersonal Perceptions Interpersonal Perceptions Interpersonal Responses Interpersonal Responses Time Use Time Use

Also used to asses… Situational characteristics Situational characteristics Where are you?Where are you? What are you doing?What are you doing? What are other people doing?What are other people doing? What resources do you have access to?What resources do you have access to? Cognitive performance Cognitive performance Time of day effects, day of week effects Time of day effects, day of week effects

Methods Paper diaries Paper diaries Self-selected contextSelf-selected context ComplianceCompliance Stone et al studyStone et al study PDAs PDAs Time-stampTime-stamp BranchingBranching SignalingSignaling Cell Phones Cell Phones Interactive Voice Response System Interactive Voice Response System Ambulatory Monitoring – Heart rate Ambulatory Monitoring – Heart rate Web-based Web-based

Ecological Momentary Assessment: Strengths Reduces retrospective recall bias Reduces retrospective recall bias E.g., “How have you coped over past 6 months?”E.g., “How have you coped over past 6 months?” How accessible is this info in memory?How accessible is this info in memory? Answers based on partial recall, reconstruction, other short cutsAnswers based on partial recall, reconstruction, other short cuts E.g., Kahneman studyE.g., Kahneman study

MINUTES PAIN RATING

Recall bias Report dominated by peak and end (heuristics) Report dominated by peak and end (heuristics) Also influenced by: Also influenced by: Current mood states Current mood states Knowledge of outcomes Knowledge of outcomes Preexisting beliefs Preexisting beliefs Porter et al studyPorter et al study

Ecological Momentary Assessment: Strengths Ecological validity Ecological validity Ability to model temporal relations Ability to model temporal relations Contingencies can be noted Contingencies can be noted Understanding within-person variability, and individual differences that affect variability Understanding within-person variability, and individual differences that affect variability Static vs. Process-oriented variablesStatic vs. Process-oriented variables Emotional ReactivityEmotional Reactivity Carryover of moodCarryover of mood Processes of change Processes of change

Some examples and findings… Emotional reactivity as a vulnerability factor Emotional reactivity as a vulnerability factor Vulnerable people will struggle to regulate their daily mood more than non-vulnerable people Vulnerable people will struggle to regulate their daily mood more than non-vulnerable people

Emotional Reactivity Stress Negative Mood LowHigh PERSON A PERSON B

Emotional Reactivity to Daily Interpersonal Stressors as a Predictor of Future Depressive Symptoms 100 college students 100 college students Initial measures of depression Initial measures of depression 14 days completed measures of stress, coping, and mood 14 days completed measures of stress, coping, and mood Depression and life events assessed 2 month follow-up Depression and life events assessed 2 month follow-up

Emotional Reactivity to Daily Interpersonal Stressors as a Prospective Predictor of Depressive Symptoms Emotional reactivity indices for mood change in response to interpersonal stress and mood change in response to noninterpersonal stress Emotional reactivity indices for mood change in response to interpersonal stress and mood change in response to noninterpersonal stress Findings: Findings: Emotional reactivity to interpersonal stress Emotional reactivity to interpersonal stress Emotional reactivity to noninterpersonal stress Emotional reactivity to noninterpersonal stress Why? Why? Rated interpersonal stressors as more threatening and themselves as less capable of coping with interpersonal stress Rated interpersonal stressors as more threatening and themselves as less capable of coping with interpersonal stress

Depression and Next-Day Spillover of Negative Mood and Cognitions Following Interpersonal Stress Depressed outpatients Depressed outpatients Daily reports of stress, mood, negative thinking Daily reports of stress, mood, negative thinking Higher in depression didn’t react differently same day Higher in depression didn’t react differently same day BUT, lingering effect… BUT, lingering effect… Not simply that the events themselves carried over… Not simply that the events themselves carried over…

Considerations Type of Alert Type of Alert RandomRandom Scheduled (can anticipate and plan around)Scheduled (can anticipate and plan around) Event-basedEvent-based Scheduling requirements Scheduling requirements Question order Question order Contingencies/branching Contingencies/branching

Few issues in this type of research.. Burden Burden No EMA3 per day6 per day12 per day Willingness to participate again Burden of participation Interfere with daily activities = Not at all, 1 = Slightly, 2 = Moderately, 3 = Extremely From Hufford (2003)

Few issues in this type of research.. Compliance Compliance Assessment length Assessment length Reactivity Reactivity Selection Bias Selection Bias Who are we sampling here? Who provides the most data?Who are we sampling here? Who provides the most data? Cost Cost Some of the same old problems… Some of the same old problems… Question interpretationQuestion interpretation Social desirability Social desirability Insight Insight

But… Advantages huge Advantages huge Processes that underlie psychological and group processes Processes that underlie psychological and group processes

Statistical Analysis of EMA Data Nested data Nested data Observations nested within person, nested within dyad, nested within department Observations nested within person, nested within dyad, nested within department Multilevel modeling / Hierarchical linear modeling Multilevel modeling / Hierarchical linear modeling

Future Cell Phones Cell Phones Wireless data retrieval Wireless data retrieval Context Aware Experience Sampling Context Aware Experience Sampling Integrating with ambulatory monitoring of physiological stress responses Integrating with ambulatory monitoring of physiological stress responses