Experience sampling research in psychopathology: opening the black box of daily life

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1533-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Myin-Germeys ◽  
M. Oorschot ◽  
D. Collip ◽  
J. Lataster ◽  
P. Delespaul ◽  
...  

A growing body of research suggests that momentary assessment technologies that sample experiences in the context of daily life constitute a useful and productive approach in the study of behavioural phenotypes and a powerful addition to mainstream cross-sectional research paradigms. Momentary assessment strategies for psychopathology are described, together with a comprehensive review of research findings illustrating the added value of daily life research for the study of (1) phenomenology, (2) aetiology, (3) psychological models, (4) biological mechanisms, (5) treatment and (6) gene–environment interactions in psychopathology. Overall, this review shows that variability over time and dynamic patterns of reactivity to the environment are essential features of psychopathological experiences that need to be captured for a better understanding of their phenomenology and underlying mechanisms. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) allows us to capture the film rather than a snapshot of daily life reality of patients, fuelling new research into the gene–environment–experience interplay underlying psychopathology and its treatment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anik Debrot ◽  
Nathalie Meuwly ◽  
Amy Muise ◽  
Emily A. Impett ◽  
Dominik Schoebi

Positive interpersonal interactions such as affection are central to well-being. Sex is associated with greater individual well-being, but little is known about why this occurs. We predicted that experienced affection would account for the association between sex and well-being. Cross-sectional results indicated that affection mediated the association between sex and both life satisfaction (Study 1) and positive emotions (however, among men only in Study 2). In Study 3, an experience sampling study with 106 dual-earner couples with children, affection mediated the association between sex and increased positive affect in daily life. Cross-lagged analyses in Study 3 to 4 supported the predicted direction of the associations. Moreover, the strength of the daily association between sex and positive affect predicted both partners’ relationship satisfaction 6 months later. Our findings underscore the importance of affection and positive affect for understanding how sex promotes well-being and has long-term relational benefits.


2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262097861
Author(s):  
Victoria R. Votaw ◽  
Katie Witkiewitz

The motivational model of substance use posits that four motive subtypes (coping, enhancement, social, conformity) dynamically interact with contextual factors to affect decisions about substance use. Yet prior studies assessing the motivational model have relied on between-persons, cross-sectional evaluations of trait motives. We systematically reviewed studies using ecological momentary assessment (EMA; N = 64) on motives for substance use to examine methodological features of EMA studies examining the motivational model, support for the motivational model between and within individuals, and associations between trait motives and daily processes. Results of the reviewed studies provide equivocal support for the motivational model and suggest that EMA measures and trait measures of motives might not reflect the same construct. The reviewed body of research indicates that most studies have not examined the momentary and dynamic nature of the motivational model, and more research is needed to inform interventions that address heterogeneous reasons for substance use in daily life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 282-283
Author(s):  
Elisa Weber ◽  
Gizem Hueluer

Abstract Intimate relationship partners dynamically covary in their affective states. One mechanism through which intimate relationship partners experience and shape each other’s affective states is affect contagion, i.e., the spread of affective states from one person to another. The degree to which social-cognitive processes are involved in affect contagion in daily life remains unclear. The majority of older adults live together with a spouse/partner, and intimate relationships are one of the most important social contexts in their daily lives. Expanding on previous research, we focused on contagion of positive and negative affect between older relationship partners, and examined whether processes of affect contagion were mediated by perceptions of partner affect, i.e., how individuals thought their partners felt at previous moments. We used data from an experience sampling study with 152 older heterosexual couples (304 participants; 65+ years old) who reported on their positive and negative affect, perceptions of their partner’s positive and negative affect, and presence or absence of partners 6 times a day for 14 days. Dyadic multilevel mediation models were used to evaluate our hypotheses. We observed strong evidence that processes of positive affect contagion between partners were mediated by perceptions of partner’s affective states. Negative affect contagion was directed from men to women, but not vice versa, and mediated by perceptions of partner’s affective states. Partner presence was unrelated to processes of affect contagion. Our findings help identify underlying mechanisms of affect contagion and support the notion that perceptions of close others’ emotions might shape our own feelings.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aire Mill ◽  
Anu Realo ◽  
Jüri Allik

Abstract. Intraindividual variability, along with the more frequently studied between-person variability, has been argued to be one of the basic building blocks of emotional experience. The aim of the current study is to examine whether intraindividual variability in affect predicts tiredness in daily life. Intraindividual variability in affect was studied with the experience sampling method in a group of 110 participants (aged between 19 and 84 years) during 14 consecutive days on seven randomly determined occasions per day. The results suggest that affect variability is a stable construct over time and situations. Our findings also demonstrate that intraindividual variability in affect has a unique role in predicting increased levels of tiredness at the momentary level as well at the level of individuals.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Colbert ◽  
Bruce Louis Rich ◽  
Timothy A. Judge

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Preziosa ◽  
Marta Bassi ◽  
Daniela Villani ◽  
Andrea Gaggioli ◽  
Giuseppe Riva

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Veilleux ◽  
Elise Warner ◽  
Danielle Baker ◽  
Kaitlyn Chamberlain

This study examined if beliefs about emotion change across emotional contexts in daily life, and investigated whether people with prominent features of borderline personality pathology experience greater shifts in emotion beliefs during emotional states compared to people without borderline features. Undergraduate participants with (n = 49) and without borderline features (n = 50) completed a one week ecological momentary assessment study where 7x/day they provided ratings of affect, nine different beliefs about emotion and indicators of momentary self-efficacy. Results indicated a significant between-person element to emotion beliefs, supporting the notion of beliefs as relatively schematic. In addition, people with borderline features generally experienced greater instability of beliefs over time compared to people without borderline features. In addition, most of the beliefs about emotion shifted with either positive or negative affect. For many of the emotion beliefs, the relationships between affect and belief were moderated by borderline group. Finally, momentary beliefs about emotion also predicted momentary self-efficacy for tolerating distress and exerting willpower. Taken together, results confirm that beliefs about emotion can fluctuate in daily life and that there are implications for emotion beliefs for people who struggle with emotion regulation and impulsivity (i.e., people with features of borderline personality) as well as for self-efficacy in tolerating emotion and engaging in goal-directed action.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A Griffin ◽  
Timothy J Trull

Objectives: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment methods (EMA) we aimed to investigate the influence of trait and state (momentary) impulsivity on alcohol use behaviors in daily life. Facets of the UPPS trait model of impulsivity (Whiteside and Lynam, 2001) have been found to differentially relate to alcohol-related outcomes and behaviors in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The present work expands on this by assessing UPPS facets in daily life and examining the contributions of trait and state impulsivity facets to daily life drinking behavior. Methods: 49 participants were prompted at least six times per day for 21 days. A total of 4,548 collected EMA reports were included in analyses. Multi-level models were computed predicting daily life alcohol use behaviors from state and trait impulsivity facets and relevant covariates. Results: Individual facets of momentary impulsivity differentially related to alcohol outcomes, such that (lack of) premeditation and, to a lesser extent, sensation seeking showed unique patterns of association with drinking and drinking quantity. Only trait levels of (lack of) premeditation were related to drinking behavior in daily life; no other trait UPPS scale significantly related to alcohol use. Conclusions: These results highlight state difficulties with premeditation as particularly relevant to drinking behavior in daily life. Our results also support the incremental validity of state impulsivity facets over trait level measures in relation to drinking behavior in daily life. These findings offer important insight into the phenomenology of daily-life alcohol use and highlight possible avenues for intervention and prevention efforts. Public Health Statement: Momentary fluctuations in premeditation predict alcohol use in daily life. Treatments targeting planning or forethought in relation to alcohol use may interrupt this process contributing to daily life drinking behaviors.


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