Incorporating Ecological Momentary Assessment into multi-level investigations of adult development and aging: Promise and practical considerations

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) represents a promising approach to study adult development and aging. In contrast to laboratory-based studies, EMA involves the repeated sampling of experiences in daily life contexts, enabling investigators to gain access to dynamic processes (e.g., situational contexts, intra-individual variability) that are likely to strongly contribute to age-related change across the adult life-span. As such, EMA approaches complement the prevailing research methods to study age differences (e.g., experimental paradigms, neuroimaging), and offer the potential to replicate and extend findings from the laboratory to more naturalistic contexts. Following an overview of the methodological and conceptual strengths of EMA approaches in adult development and aging research, we provide a guide for researchers interested in implementing EMA studies. Together, this work will highlight the tremendous potential in combining EMA methods with other laboratory-based approaches in order to increase the robustness, replicability, and real-world implications of research findings.