Ecological momentary assessment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia: Relationships to effort-based decision making and reinforcement learning.

Abstract Background Previous research employing global positioning satellite (GPS) data and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has shown that greater aggregated time at home and less distance traveled (diminished life-space) were associated with poorer community functioning and with more severe negative symptoms in people with schizophrenia. Emotional experiences (e.g., pleasure or anxious avoidance) may reduce time spent outside of the home. We evaluated the associations between concurrent and time-lagged positive and negative affective experiences in relation to time at home and distance travelled in the community (life-space) among people with schizophrenia compared to healthy comparators (HCs). Methods Sixty HCs (mean age = 51.2, SD = 10.9) and 91 people with schizophrenia (mean age=52, SD=9), matched on demographic characteristics, completed in-lab assessments of symptoms, cognition, and functioning. They were then given a smartphone and completed EMA assessments 7 times daily for 7 days at stratified random intervals. EMA surveys included questions about daily life activities and affect. GPS coordinates were collected every 5 minutes, 24 hours a day, over the 7-day study period. Results Participants with schizophrenia spent more time at home than HCs (t = -4.95, p < 0.001). Sadness and ratings of relaxation were not associated with distance traveled away or time spent at home. For HCs, happiness was associated with more distance traveled away as measured by GPS (B=6.85, SE= 3.04, Wald Chi-Square = 5.067, p=0.024). However, for people with schizophrenia, only greater nervousness ratings were associated with more distance from home (B=3.41, SE=1.30, Wald Chi-Square=6.88, p=0.009). Moreover, for people with schizophrenia, greater nervousness ratings were associated with more time spent at home (B=2.07, SE= 0.98, Wald Chi-Square=4.43, p=0.035), and greater nervousness also predicted that a person with schizophrenia would be at home at the next survey in lead analyses, (F(1, 3029)=7.533, p=0.006). Taken together, these results suggest both greater nervousness associated with greater distance away from home and anxious avoidance of leaving the home. Discussion For individuals with schizophrenia, greater overall anxiety was associated with reduced time spent out of the home, and when patients did leave the home, greater distance travelled was associated with greater nervousness. In contrast, HC participants experienced greater positive emotion with larger life-space. These data suggest a significant momentary temporal association of anxiety and behavior in schizophrenia, such that greater nervousness predicted an individual would be more likely to stay at home. These findings suggest avoidance of negative emotion may also contribute to diminished motivated behavior, which may even act as an emotion regulation strategy. Life-space, which can be measured readily over time by mobile devices, may be a novel target for rehabilitative interventions for anxious avoidance in schizophrenia.

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Influenca: a gamified assessment of value-based decision-making for longitudinal studies

10.1101/2021.04.27.441601 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Monja P. Neuser ◽

Franziska Kräutlein ◽

Anne Kühnel ◽

Vanessa Teckentrup ◽

Jennifer Svaldi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Reinforcement Learning ◽

Learning Task ◽

Reward Learning ◽

Initial Validation ◽

Cross Platform ◽

Test Retest Reliability ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment ◽

Effective Medication

AbstractReinforcement learning is a core facet of motivation and alterations have been associated with various mental disorders. To build better models of individual learning, repeated measurement of value-based decision-making is crucial. However, the focus on lab-based assessment of reward learning has limited the number of measurements and the test-retest reliability of many decision-related parameters is therefore unknown. Here, we developed an open-source cross-platform application Influenca that provides a novel reward learning task complemented by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for repeated assessment over weeks. In this task, players have to identify the most effective medication by selecting the best option after integrating offered points with changing probabilities (according to random Gaussian walks). Participants can complete up to 31 levels with 150 trials each. To encourage replay on their preferred device, in-game screens provide feedback on the progress. Using an initial validation sample of 127 players (2904 runs), we found that reinforcement learning parameters such as the learning rate and reward sensitivity show low to medium intra-class correlations (ICC: 0.22-0.52), indicating substantial within- and between-subject variance. Notably, state items showed comparable ICCs as reinforcement learning parameters. To conclude, our innovative and openly customizable app framework provides a gamified task that optimizes repeated assessments of reward learning to better quantify intra- and inter-individual differences in value-based decision-making over time.

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An Ecological Momentary Assessment of College Women’s Decisions to Use Protective Behavioral Strategies

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211005143 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110051

Author(s):

Nichole M. Scaglione ◽

Rob Turrisi ◽

Nichole M. Sell ◽

Kimberly A. Mallett ◽

Michael J. Cleveland

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

College Women ◽

Risk Reduction ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Behavioral Strategies ◽

Protective Behavioral Strategies ◽

Willingness To Use ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) have been associated with reduced risk for sexual assault victimization in college women. Sexual assault risk reduction programs have had limited success increasing PBS use, particularly among heavy drinkers, suggesting a need for additional research on the malleable predictors of PBS use. Whereas longitudinal studies show women’s decisions to use PBS can be both planned and reactive, little is known about the decision-making processes that affect PBS use on drinking days, when sexual assault risk may be elevated. The current study used ecological momentary assessment to examine variability in the associations between decision-making and PBS use within and across drinking days in first-semester college women. Participants (56 female drinkers) completed a 14-day protocol with three daily measures of intentions and willingness to use PBS, and once-daily diaries of PBS use. Multilevel models examined between-day and within-day effects of intentions and willingness to use PBS with regards to sexual assault PBS (e.g., communicating sexual boundaries) and drinking PBS (e.g., limiting alcohol consumption), respectively. On days when sexual assault PBS willingness increased throughout the day, women tended to use more sexual assault PBS. This association was strongest among women who were typically less willing to use these PBS. Among women who were the least willing to use drinking PBS, their drinking PBS use decreased on days when they reported increased willingness to use them. Decisions to use sexual assault and drinking PBS on drinking days were qualified by women’s typical levels of willingness to use the different PBS. This suggests the need for a multi-faceted intervention strategy that targets both typical and event-level risk. Individual-level alcohol and sexual assault risk reduction approaches could be enhanced with event-level PBS messaging and evaluation.

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Emotionsregulation bei Depression

Psychologische Rundschau ◽

10.1026/0033-3042/a000172 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 64 (4) ◽

pp. 235-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Sven Barnow ◽

Maren Aldinger ◽

Ines Ulrich ◽

Malte Stopsack

Keyword(s):

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

Die Anzahl der Studien, die sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Emotionsregulation (ER) und depressiven Störungen befassen, steigt. In diesem Review werden Studien zusammengefasst und metaanalytisch ausgewertet, die den Zusammenhang zwischen ER und Depression mittels Fragebögen bzw. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) erfassen. Dabei zeigt sich ein ER-Profil welches durch die vermehrte Nutzung von Rumination, Suppression und Vermeidung bei gleichzeitig seltenerem Einsatz von Neubewertung und Problemlösen gekennzeichnet ist. Mit mittleren bis großen Effekten, ist der Zusammenhang zwischen Depression und maladaptiven Strategien besser belegt als bei den adaptiven Formen, wo die Effekte eher moderat ausfielen. EMA-Messungen bestätigen dieses Profil. Da EMA-Studien neben der Häufigkeit des Strategieeinsatzes auch die Erfassung anderer ER-Parameter wie Effektivität und Flexibilität ermöglichen, sollten solche Designs in der ER-Forschung zukünftig vermehrt Einsatz finden.

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Using Personal Cell Phones for Ecological Momentary Assessment

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000127 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 3-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Emmanuel Kuntsche ◽

Florian Labhart

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Cell Phones ◽

Personal Digital Assistants ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Mobility Patterns ◽

Standard Data ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a way of collecting data in people’s natural environments in real time and has become very popular in social and health sciences. The emergence of personal digital assistants has led to more complex and sophisticated EMA protocols but has also highlighted some important drawbacks. Modern cell phones combine the functionalities of advanced communication systems with those of a handheld computer and offer various additional features to capture and record sound, pictures, locations, and movements. Moreover, most people own a cell phone, are familiar with the different functions, and always carry it with them. This paper describes ways in which cell phones have been used for data collection purposes in the field of social sciences. This includes automated data capture techniques, for example, geolocation for the study of mobility patterns and the use of external sensors for remote health-monitoring research. The paper also describes cell phones as efficient and user-friendly tools for prompt manual data collection, that is, by asking participants to produce or to provide data. This can either be done by means of dedicated applications or by simply using the web browser. We conclude that cell phones offer a variety of advantages and have a great deal of potential for innovative research designs, suggesting they will be among the standard data collection devices for EMA in the coming years.

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