Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of affect, cognition and behavior aims to provide a ‘window into a person’s daily life’. But what should we look for through this window? In this paper, we compare a statistical perspective, grounded in probability theory, with a dynamic pattern perspective, gr...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Lund University Library
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal for Person-Oriented Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.lub.lu.se/jpor/article/view/27102 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1846124599708745728 |
|---|---|
| author | Merlijn Olthof Andrea Bunge Dominique F. Maciejewski Fred Hasselman Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff |
| author_facet | Merlijn Olthof Andrea Bunge Dominique F. Maciejewski Fred Hasselman Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff |
| author_sort | Merlijn Olthof |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of affect, cognition and behavior aims to provide a ‘window into a person’s daily life’. But what should we look for through this window? In this paper, we compare a statistical perspective, grounded in probability theory, with a dynamic pattern perspective, grounded in complexity theory, on two common phenomena in EMA data: non-stationarity and outlying values. From a statistical perspective, these phenomena are considered nuisances that should be dealt with. From a dynamic pattern perspective, in contrast, non-stationarity may signal transitions from one dynamic pattern to another (e.g., a transition from a neutral to a persistent sad mood), whereas outlying values may signal recovery from perturbations (e.g., stressful life events). We evaluated the dynamic pattern view with a triangulation study of multiple single cases that took part in the Track your Mood EMA study, where participants reported on their emotions and daily events for 60 days. We found that non-stationarity was indeed related to a pattern transition, whereas outlying values were related to recovery after perturbations. These findings show that person-oriented EMA research would benefit from a dynamic pattern perspective that can identify highly meaningful and clinically relevant phenomena that are otherwise at risk of being missed. Complementing EMA time series with contextual information and qualitative data will be essential to genuinely understand these phenomena.
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a43f3a70be7941c7830cac73a3c600d0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2002-0244 2003-0177 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Lund University Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal for Person-Oriented Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-a43f3a70be7941c7830cac73a3c600d02024-12-13T15:32:25ZengLund University LibraryJournal for Person-Oriented Research2002-02442003-01772024-12-0110210.17505/jpor.2024.27102Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case studyMerlijn Olthof0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5975-6588Andrea Bunge1Dominique F. Maciejewski2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0427-8555Fred Hasselman3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-8361Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4365-1538Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsTilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, The NetherlandsBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsFaculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of affect, cognition and behavior aims to provide a ‘window into a person’s daily life’. But what should we look for through this window? In this paper, we compare a statistical perspective, grounded in probability theory, with a dynamic pattern perspective, grounded in complexity theory, on two common phenomena in EMA data: non-stationarity and outlying values. From a statistical perspective, these phenomena are considered nuisances that should be dealt with. From a dynamic pattern perspective, in contrast, non-stationarity may signal transitions from one dynamic pattern to another (e.g., a transition from a neutral to a persistent sad mood), whereas outlying values may signal recovery from perturbations (e.g., stressful life events). We evaluated the dynamic pattern view with a triangulation study of multiple single cases that took part in the Track your Mood EMA study, where participants reported on their emotions and daily events for 60 days. We found that non-stationarity was indeed related to a pattern transition, whereas outlying values were related to recovery after perturbations. These findings show that person-oriented EMA research would benefit from a dynamic pattern perspective that can identify highly meaningful and clinically relevant phenomena that are otherwise at risk of being missed. Complementing EMA time series with contextual information and qualitative data will be essential to genuinely understand these phenomena. https://journals.lub.lu.se/jpor/article/view/27102ecological momentary assessmentexperience samplingcomplex systemsnon-stationaritytime seriesresilience |
| spellingShingle | Merlijn Olthof Andrea Bunge Dominique F. Maciejewski Fred Hasselman Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study Journal for Person-Oriented Research ecological momentary assessment experience sampling complex systems non-stationarity time series resilience |
| title | Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study |
| title_full | Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study |
| title_fullStr | Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study |
| title_short | Transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment: A multiple single-case study |
| title_sort | transitions and resilience in ecological momentary assessment a multiple single case study |
| topic | ecological momentary assessment experience sampling complex systems non-stationarity time series resilience |
| url | https://journals.lub.lu.se/jpor/article/view/27102 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT merlijnolthof transitionsandresilienceinecologicalmomentaryassessmentamultiplesinglecasestudy AT andreabunge transitionsandresilienceinecologicalmomentaryassessmentamultiplesinglecasestudy AT dominiquefmaciejewski transitionsandresilienceinecologicalmomentaryassessmentamultiplesinglecasestudy AT fredhasselman transitionsandresilienceinecologicalmomentaryassessmentamultiplesinglecasestudy AT annalichtwarckaschoff transitionsandresilienceinecologicalmomentaryassessmentamultiplesinglecasestudy |