Bridging the Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to the Analysis of Clinical Data.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Beltz AM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5104664 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Bridging the Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to the Analysis of Clinical Data.
Beltz Adriene M AM Wright Aidan G C AG Sprague Briana N BN Molenaar Peter C M PC
Assessment 20160801 4
The nomothetic approach (i.e., the study of interindividual variation) dominates analyses of clinical data, even though its assumption of homogeneity across people and time is often violated. The idiographic approach (i.e., the study of intraindividual variation) is best suited for analyses of heterogeneous clinical data, but its person-specific methods and results have been criticized as unwieldy. Group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) combines the assets of the nomothetic and idiogr ...[more]
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Project description:ObjectiveWe tested nomothetic and idiographic convergence and change in 3 symptom measures during acute-phase cognitive therapy (CT) for depression and compared outcomes among patients showing different change patterns.MethodOutpatients (N = 362; 69% women; 85% White; age M = 43 years) with recurrent major depressive disorder according to criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Hamilton, 1960), Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961), and Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (Rush, Gullion, Basco, Jarrett, & Trivedi, 1996) on 14 occasions as well as pre/post-CT measures of social-interpersonal functioning and negative cognitive content.ResultsThe 3 symptom measures marked the same severity and change constructs, and we offer improved formulas for intermeasure score conversions via their common factor. Pre/post-CT symptom reductions were large (ds = 1.71-1.92), and nomothetic symptom curves were log-linear (larger improvements earlier and smaller improvements later in CT). Nonetheless, only 30% of individual patients showed clear log-linear changes, whereas other patients showed linear (e.g., steady decreases; 20%), 1-step (e.g., a quick drop; 16%), and unclassified (34%) patterns. Log-linear, linear, and 1-step patients were generally similar to one another and superior to unclassified patients post-CT in symptom levels, response and stable remission rates, social-interpersonal functioning, and cognitive content (median d = 0.69).ConclusionsReaching a low-symptom "destination" at the end of CT via any coherent "path" is more important in the short term than which path patients take. We discuss implications for theories of change, clinical monitoring of individuals' progress in CT, and the need to investigate long-term outcomes of patients with differing patterns of symptom change.
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Project description:BackgroundThe past decades of research have seen an increase in statistical tools to explore the complex dynamics of mental health from patient data, yet the application of these tools in clinical practice remains uncommon. This is surprising, given that clinical reasoning, e.g., case conceptualizations, largely coincides with the dynamical system approach. We argue that the gap between statistical tools and clinical practice can partly be explained by the fact that current estimation techniques disregard theoretical and practical considerations relevant to psychotherapy. To address this issue, we propose that case conceptualizations should be formalized. We illustrate this approach by introducing a computational model of functional analysis, a framework commonly used by practitioners to formulate case conceptualizations and design patient-tailored treatment.MethodsWe outline the general approach of formalizing idiographic theories, drawing on the example of a functional analysis for a patient suffering from panic disorder. We specified the system using a series of differential equations and simulated different scenarios; first, we simulated data without intervening in the system to examine the effects of avoidant coping on the development of panic symptomatic. Second, we formalized two interventions commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; exposure and cognitive reappraisal) and subsequently simulated their effects on the system.ResultsThe first simulation showed that the specified system could recover several aspects of the phenomenon (panic disorder), however, also showed some incongruency with the nature of panic attacks (e.g., rapid decreases were not observed). The second simulation study illustrated differential effects of CBT interventions for this patient. All tested interventions could decrease panic levels in the system.ConclusionsFormalizing idiographic theories is promising in bridging the gap between complexity science and clinical practice and can help foster more rigorous scientific practices in psychotherapy, through enhancing theory development. More precise case conceptualizations could potentially improve intervention planning and treatment outcomes. We discuss applications in psychotherapy and future directions, amongst others barriers for systematic theory evaluation and extending the framework to incorporate interactions between individual systems, relevant for modeling social learning processes. With this report, we hope to stimulate future efforts in formalizing clinical frameworks.
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