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Comparability of Emotion Dynamics Derived From Ecological Momentary Assessments, Daily Diaries, and the Day Reconstruction Method: Observational Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Interest in the measurement of the temporal dynamics of people's emotional lives has risen substantially in psychological and medical research. Emotions fluctuate and change over time, and measuring the ebb and flow of people's affective experiences promises enhanced insights into people's health and functioning. Researchers have used a variety of intensive longitudinal assessment (ILA) methods to create measures of emotion dynamics, including ecological momentary assessments (EMAs), end-of-day (EOD) diaries, and the day reconstruction method (DRM). To date, it is unclear whether they can be used interchangeably or whether ostensibly similar emotion dynamics captured by the methods differ in meaningful ways. OBJECTIVE:This study aims to examine the extent to which different ILA methods yield comparable measures of intraindividual emotion dynamics. METHODS:Data from 90 participants aged 50 years or older were collected in a probability-based internet panel, the Understanding America Study, and analyzed. Participants provided positive and negative affect ratings using 3 ILA methods: (1) smartphone-based EMA, administered 6 times per day over 1 week, (2) web-based EOD diaries, administered daily over the same week, and (3) web-based DRM, administered once during that week. We calculated 11 measures of emotion dynamics (addressing mean levels, variability, instability, and inertia separately for positive and negative affect, as well as emotion network density, mixed emotions, and emotional dialecticism) from each ILA method. The analyses examined mean differences and correlations of scores addressing the same emotion dynamic across the ILA methods. We also compared the patterns of intercorrelations among the emotion dynamics and their relationships with health outcomes (general health, pain, and fatigue) across ILA methods. RESULTS:Emotion dynamics derived from EMAs and EOD diaries demonstrated moderate-to-high correspondence for measures of mean emotion levels (??0.95), variability (??0.68), instability (??0.51), mixed emotions (?=0.92), and emotional dialecticism (?=0.57), and low correspondence for measures of inertia (??0.17) and emotion network density (?=0.36). DRM-derived measures showed correlations with EMAs and EOD diaries that were high for mean emotion levels and mixed emotions (??0.74), moderate for variability (?=0.38-.054), and low to moderate for other measures (?=0.03-0.41). Intercorrelations among the emotion dynamics showed high convergence across EMAs and EOD diaries, and moderate convergence between the DRM and EMAs as well as EOD diaries. Emotion dynamics from all 3 ILA methods produced very similar patterns of relationships with health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:EMAs and EOD diaries provide corresponding information about individual differences in various emotion dynamics, whereas the DRM provides corresponding information about emotion levels and (to a lesser extent) variability, but not about more complex emotion dynamics. Our results caution researchers against viewing these ILA methods as universally interchangeable.

SUBMITTER: Schneider S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7545330 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparability of Emotion Dynamics Derived From Ecological Momentary Assessments, Daily Diaries, and the Day Reconstruction Method: Observational Study.

Schneider Stefan S Junghaenel Doerte U DU Gutsche Tania T Mak Hio Wa HW Stone Arthur A AA

Journal of medical Internet research 20200924 9

<h4>Background</h4>Interest in the measurement of the temporal dynamics of people's emotional lives has risen substantially in psychological and medical research. Emotions fluctuate and change over time, and measuring the ebb and flow of people's affective experiences promises enhanced insights into people's health and functioning. Researchers have used a variety of intensive longitudinal assessment (ILA) methods to create measures of emotion dynamics, including ecological momentary assessments ...[more]

PMID: 32969835

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Project description:BackgroundParkinson disease monitoring is currently transitioning from periodic clinical assessments to continuous daily life monitoring in free-living conditions. Traditional Parkinson disease monitoring methods lack intraday fluctuation detection. Electronic diaries (eDiaries) hold the potential to collect subjective experiences on the severity and burden of motor and nonmotor symptoms in free-living conditions.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop a Parkinson disease-specific eDiary based on ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and to explore its validation.MethodsAn observational cohort of 20 patients with Parkinson disease used the smartphone-based EMA eDiary for 14 consecutive days without adjusting free-living routines. The eDiary app presented an identical questionnaire consisting of questions regarding affect, context, motor and nonmotor symptoms, and motor performance 7 times daily at semirandomized moments. In addition, patients were asked to complete a morning and an evening questionnaire.ResultsMean affect correlated moderate-to-strong and moderate with motor performance (R=0.38 to 0.75; P<.001) and motor symptom (R=0.34 to 0.50; P<.001) items, respectively. The motor performance showed a weak-to-moderate negative correlation with motor symptoms (R=-0.31 to -0.48; P<.001). Mean group answers given for on-medication conditions vs wearing-off-medication conditions differed significantly (P<.05); however, not enough questionnaires were completed for the wearing-off-medication condition to reproduce these findings on individual levels.ConclusionsWe presented a Parkinson disease-specific EMA eDiary. Correlations between given answers support the internal validity of the eDiary and underline EMA's potential in free-living Parkinson disease monitoring. Careful patient selection and EMA design adjustment to this targeted population and their fluctuations are necessary to generate robust proof of EMA validation in future work. Combining clinical Parkinson disease knowledge with practical EMA experience is inevitable to design and perform studies, which will lead to the successful integration of eDiaries in free-living Parkinson disease monitoring.

Project description:BackgroundHealthy behaviors are crucial for maintaining a person's health and well-being. The effects of health behavior interventions are mediated by individual and contextual factors that vary over time. Recently emerging smartphone-based ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) can use real-time user reports (ecological momentary assessments [EMAs]) to trigger appropriate support when needed in daily life.ObjectiveThis systematic review aims to assess the characteristics of smartphone-delivered EMIs using self-reported EMAs in relation to their effects on health behaviors, user engagement, and user perspectives.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL in June 2019 and updated the search in March 2020. We included experimental studies that incorporated EMIs based on EMAs delivered through smartphone apps to promote health behaviors in any health domain. Studies were independently screened. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines were followed. We performed a narrative synthesis of intervention effects, user perspectives and engagement, and intervention design and characteristics. Quality appraisal was conducted for all included studies.ResultsWe included 19 papers describing 17 unique studies and comprising 652 participants. Most studies were quasi-experimental (13/17, 76%), had small sample sizes, and great heterogeneity in intervention designs and measurements. EMIs were most popular in the mental health domain (8/17, 47%), followed by substance abuse (3/17, 18%), diet, weight loss, physical activity (4/17, 24%), and smoking (2/17, 12%). Of the 17 studies, the 4 (24%) included randomized controlled trials reported nonstatistically significant effects on health behaviors, and 4 (24%) quasi-experimental studies reported statistically significant pre-post improvements in self-reported primary outcomes, namely depressive (P<.001) and psychotic symptoms (P=.03), drinking frequency (P<.001), and eating patterns (P=.01). EMA was commonly used to capture subjective experiences as well as behaviors, whereas sensors were rarely used. Generally, users perceived EMIs to be helpful. Common suggestions for improvement included enhancing personalization, multimedia and interactive capabilities (eg, voice recording), and lowering the EMA reporting burden. EMI and EMA components were rarely reported and were not described in a standardized manner across studies, hampering progress in this field. A reporting checklist was developed to facilitate the interpretation and comparison of findings and enhance the transparency and replicability of future studies using EMAs and EMIs.ConclusionsThe use of smartphone-delivered EMIs using self-reported EMAs to promote behavior change is an emerging area of research, with few studies evaluating efficacy. Such interventions could present an opportunity to enhance health but need further assessment in larger participant cohorts and well-designed evaluations following reporting checklists. Future research should explore combining self-reported EMAs of subjective experiences with objective data passively collected via sensors to promote personalization while minimizing user burden, as well as explore different EMA data collection methods (eg, chatbots).Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019138739; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=138739.

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Dataset Information

Comparability of Emotion Dynamics Derived From Ecological Momentary Assessments, Daily Diaries, and the Day Reconstruction Method: Observational Study.

Publications

Comparability of Emotion Dynamics Derived From Ecological Momentary Assessments, Daily Diaries, and the Day Reconstruction Method: Observational Study.

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