A mixed ordinal location scale model for analysis of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data

Emotion-regulation theories suggest that affect intensity is crucial in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. However, other aspects of emotional experience, such as lability, differentiation, and inertia, are not as well understood. This study is the first to use ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine differences in several daily negative affect (NA) indicators among adults diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or binge-eating disorder (BED). We used EMA data from three large studies to run a series of linear mixed models; the results showed that participants in the AN and BN groups experienced significantly greater NA intensity and better emotion differentiation than participants in the BED group. Alternatively, the BN group demonstrated significantly greater NA lability than the AN group and greater NA inertia than the BED group. These results suggest that several daily affective experiences differ among eating-disorder diagnostic groups and have implications toward distinct conceptualizations and treatments.

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Affect fluctuations examined with ecological momentary assessment in patients with current or remitted depression and anxiety disorders

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720000689 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. A. Schoevers ◽

C. D. van Borkulo ◽

F. Lamers ◽

M.N. Servaas ◽

J. A. Bastiaansen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Affect Regulation ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Remitted Depression ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment ◽

A Current

Abstract Background There is increasing interest in day-to-day affect fluctuations of patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. Few studies have compared repeated assessments of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) across diagnostic groups, and fluctuation patterns were not uniformly defined. The aim of this study is to compare affect fluctuations in patients with a current episode of depressive or anxiety disorder, in remitted patients and in controls, using affect instability as a core concept but also describing other measures of variability and adjusting for possible confounders. Methods Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data were obtained from 365 participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety with current (n = 95), remitted (n = 178) or no (n = 92) DSM-IV defined depression/anxiety disorder. For 2 weeks, five times per day, participants filled-out items on PA and NA. Affect instability was calculated as the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD). Tests on group differences in RMSSD, within-person variance, and autocorrelation were performed, controlling for mean affect levels. Results Current depression/anxiety patients had the highest affect instability in both PA and NA, followed by remitters and then controls. Instability differences between groups remained significant when controlling for mean affect levels, but differences between current and remitted were no longer significant. Conclusions Patients with a current disorder have higher instability of NA and PA than remitted patients and controls. Especially with regard to NA, this could be interpreted as patients with a current disorder being more sensitive to internal and external stressors and having suboptimal affect regulation.

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Are Retrospective Assessments Means of People’s Experiences? Accounting for Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Variability when Comparing Retrospective Assessment Data to Ecological Momentary Assessment Data

10.31234/osf.io/nc5uq ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

IJsbrand Leertouwer ◽

Noémi Katalin Schuurman ◽

Jeroen Vermunt

Keyword(s):

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Assessment Data ◽

Interindividual Differences ◽

Retrospective Assessment ◽

The Mean ◽

The Difference ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment ◽

Intrapersonal Variability

Retrospective Assessment (RA) scores are often found to be higher than the mean of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) scores about a concurrent period. This difference is generally interpreted as bias towards salient experiences in RA. During RA, participants are often asked to summarize their experiences in unspecific terms, which may indeed facilitate bias. At least in this unspecific form, the summary that participants apply to their remembered experiences can take many different forms. In this study, we reanalyzed an existing dataset (N = 92) using a repeated N = 1 approach. We reported on interindividual differences between EMA data and RA score, and assessed for each participant whether it was likely that their RA score was an approximation of the mean of their experiences as captured by their EMA data. We found considerable interpersonal differences in the difference between EMA scores and RA scores, as well as some extreme cases. Furthermore, for a considerable part of the sample (n = 46 for positive affect, n = 60 for negative affect), we did not reject the null hypothesis that their RA score represented the mean of their experiences as captured by their EMA data. We conclude that in its current unspecific form, RA may facilitate bias, although not for everyone. Future studies may determine whether more specific forms of RA reduce bias, while acknowledging interindividual differences.

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Statistical Considerations for Analyzing Ecological Momentary Assessment Data

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2021_jslhr-21-00081 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Jacob J. Oleson ◽

Michelle A. Jones ◽

Erik J. Jorgensen ◽

Yu-Hsiang Wu

Keyword(s):

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Linear Mixed Model ◽

General Purpose ◽

Statistical Characteristics ◽

Statistical Approaches ◽

Survey Responses ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment

Purpose: The analysis of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data can be difficult to conceptualize due to the complexity of how the data are collected. The goal of this tutorial is to provide an overview of statistical considerations for analyzing observational data arising from EMA studies. Method: EMA data are collected in a variety of ways, complicating the statistical analysis. We focus on fundamental statistical characteristics of the data and general purpose statistical approaches to analyzing EMA data. We implement those statistical approaches using a recent study involving EMA. Results: The linear or generalized linear mixed-model statistical approach can adequately capture the challenges resulting from EMA collected data if properly set up. Additionally, while sample size depends on both the number of participants and the number of survey responses per participant, having more participants is more important than the number of responses per participant. Conclusion: Using modern statistical methods when analyzing EMA data and adequately considering all of the statistical assumptions being used can lead to interesting and important findings when using EMA. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17155961

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Mobile Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention and Health Behavior Change among Adults in Rakai, Uganda: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.22693 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Kristen Beres ◽

Ismail Mbabali ◽

Aggrey Anok ◽

Charles Katabalwa ◽

Jeremiah Mulamba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Behavior Change ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

The Mean ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment ◽

Health Messaging

BACKGROUND An extraordinary increase in mobile phone ownership has revolutionized opportunities to employ mHealth approaches in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) and Intervention (EMAI) uses mobile technology to gather data and deliver timely, personalized behavior change interventions in an individual’s natural setting. To our knowledge, there have been no previous trials of EMAI in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE To advance the evidence base for mHealth interventions in LMICs, we conducted a pilot randomized trial to assess the feasibility of EMAI and to establish estimates of the potential effect of EMAI on a range of health-related behaviors in Rakai, Uganda. METHODS This prospective, parallel group, randomized pilot trial compared health behaviors between adult participants submitting EMA data and receiving behaviorally-responsive interventional health messaging (EMAI) to those submitting EMA data, alone. Using a fully-automated mobile phone application, participants submitted daily reports on five different health behaviors during a 30-day period prior to randomization (P1). Participants were then block randomized to control arm, continuing EMA reporting through exit, or intervention arm, EMA reporting plus behavioral health messaging receipt. Participants exited after 90 days of follow-up, divided into study Periods 2 (P2: randomization+29 days) and 3 (P3: 30 days post-randomization to exit). We used descriptive statistics to assess EMAI feasibility through completeness of data, and differences in reported behaviors between time periods and study arms. RESULTS The study included 24 participants per arm (48% female, median age 31 years). EMA data collection was feasible, with 85.5% of the combined 4,418 days reporting some behavioral data. There was a decrease in the mean proportion of days when alcohol was consumed in both arms over time (control: P1, 9.6% of days to P2, 4.3% of days, P=.03; intervention P1, 7.2% of days to P3, 2.4% of days, P=.01). Decreases in sex with a non-long-term partner without a condom were also reported in both arms (P1 to P3 control: 1.9% of days to 1.0% of days, P=.02, intervention: 6.6% of days to 1.3% of days P=.03). An increase in fruit and vegetable consumption was found in the intervention (P1 to P3 fruit: 78.6% of days to 87.0% of days, P=<.001; vegetable: 65.6% of days to 76.6% of days, P =.03 ) but not the control arm. Between arms, there was a significant difference in the change in reported vegetable consumption between P1 and P3 (control: 7.99% decrease in the mean proportion of days vegetables consumed, intervention: 11.05% increase, P=.01). CONCLUSIONS Preliminary estimates suggest that EMAI may be a promising strategy to promote behavior change across a range of behaviors. Larger trials examining the effectiveness of EMAI in LMICs are warranted. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04375423; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04375423.

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Ecological Momentary Assessment

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199381708.013.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Saul Shiffman

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Self Report ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Valid Data ◽

Report Data ◽

Self Report Data ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a method for collecting data in real time and in real-world settings in order to avoid retrospective biases, collect ecologically valid data, and study behavioral processes over time. EMA is particularly suited for studying substance use because use is episodic and related to contextual factors like mood, setting, and cues. This chapter addresses the application of EMA to substance use research, describing important elements of EMA design and analysis and illustrating them with examples from substance use research. It discusses and reviews data on methodological issues such as compliance and reactivity and covers considerations in designing EMA studies of substance use. Data on the associations between EMA data on substance use and more traditional self-report data are reviewed. EMA methods reveal substance use patterns not captured by questionnaires or retrospective data and hold promise for substance use research and treatment.

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Ecological Momentary Assessment Using a Mobile Phone

Technological Advancements in Biomedicine for Healthcare Applications - Advances in Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2196-1.ch039 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 398-407

Author(s):

David Habsara Hareva ◽

Hiroki Okada ◽

Hisao Oka

Keyword(s):

Mobile Phone ◽

Real Time ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Time Data ◽

Physical Disorders ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

Momentary Assessment ◽

Supportive Intervention

The mobile phone has become a popular tool for providing information and capturing responses from different groups of people because of its technological features and portability. EMA (Ecological Momentary Assessment) is commonly used by health researchers to contemporaneously capture information regarding human experience. The authors proposed the use of a mobile EMA system as a supportive intervention to collect real-time patient data and to give back real-time advice. In this study, a mobile EMA system has been utilized by patients with a variety of conditions, including mood disorders, behavior disorders, and physical disorders. The real-time data collection included one or more pieces of information at each moment to improve understanding the causal mechanisms of disease. The effectiveness of real-time advice has been examined by comparing a mobile EMA system with and without this function. Patient compliance was high on average, at approximately 89%, and was higher, at approximately 93%, when advice was given. In several cases, the supportive intervention was shown to help patients improve their health conditions. However, the results were dependent on the patients’ motivation, environment, and relationship with their doctor. The EMA data regarding advice given showed that symptoms tended to improve in most cases.

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Individual Hearing Aid Benefit in Real Life Evaluated Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

Trends in Hearing ◽

10.1177/2331216521990288 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 233121652199028

Author(s):

Petra von Gablenz ◽

Ulrik Kowalk ◽

Jörg Bitzer ◽

Markus Meis ◽

Inga Holube

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Hearing Aid ◽

Full Range ◽

Real Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Ema Data ◽

First Time ◽

Momentary Assessment

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) was used in 24 adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss who were seeking first hearing-aid (HA) fitting or HA renewal. At two stages in the aural rehabilitation process, just before HA fitting and after an average 3-month HA adjustment period, the participants used a smartphone-based EMA system for 3 to 4 days. A questionnaire app allowed for the description of the environmental context as well as assessments of various hearing-related dimensions and of well-being. In total, 2,042 surveys were collected. The main objectives of the analysis were threefold: First, describing the “auditory reality” of future and experienced HA users; second, examining the effects of HA fitting for individual participants, as well as for the subgroup of first-time HA-users; and third, reviewing whether the EMA data collected in the unaided condition predicted who ultimately decided for or against permanent HA use. The participants reported hearing-related disabilities across the full range of daily listening tasks, but communication events took the largest share. The effect of the HA intervention was small in experienced HA users. Generally, much larger changes and larger interindividual differences were observed in first-time compared with experienced HA users in all hearing-related dimensions. Changes were not correlated with hearing loss or with the duration of the HA adjustment period. EMA data collected in the unaided condition did not predict the cancelation of HA fitting. The study showed that EMA is feasible in a general population of HA candidates for establishing individual and multidimensional profiles of real-life hearing experiences.

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