Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures

Background: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves collecting data from people in their everyday lives one or more times per day over the course of days, weeks, or months. EMA has been used in the traumatic stress field to better understand how trauma-relevant symptoms, experiences, and beha...

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Main Authors: Bryce Hruska, Marilyn L. Piccirillo, Lonneke I. M. Lenferink, Maria L. Pacella-LaBarbara, Ateka A. Contractor, Matthew Price, Talya Greene
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:European Journal of Psychotraumatology
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2477423
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author Bryce Hruska
Marilyn L. Piccirillo
Lonneke I. M. Lenferink
Maria L. Pacella-LaBarbara
Ateka A. Contractor
Matthew Price
Talya Greene
author_facet Bryce Hruska
Marilyn L. Piccirillo
Lonneke I. M. Lenferink
Maria L. Pacella-LaBarbara
Ateka A. Contractor
Matthew Price
Talya Greene
author_sort Bryce Hruska
collection DOAJ
description Background: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves collecting data from people in their everyday lives one or more times per day over the course of days, weeks, or months. EMA has been used in the traumatic stress field to better understand how trauma-relevant symptoms, experiences, and behaviours occur under naturalistic conditions and in relation to one another. The FAIR principles specify that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable to maximise the knowledge gained from individual research studies. However, it is unclear how EMA design decisions and data procedures might affect the implementation of these principles.Objective: We articulate key design considerations and data procedures when performing trauma EMA research and outline some challenges and recommendations for implementing the FAIR data principles in trauma EMA research.Method and Results: Using examples from existing trauma EMA studies, we discuss the decisions made when preparing a trauma EMA study; data processing and analytic procedures performed following data collection; and challenges that exist for their implementation, as well as practices that trauma EMA researchers can incorporate into their research to promote FAIR data.Conclusions: Implementing the FAIR data principles in trauma EMA research is critical to advancing scientific knowledge. Researchers should deposit their data in reputable repositories and include documentation detailing design decisions and the steps taken to clean and prepare data. Many challenges remain for the implementation of these practices including balancing privacy concerns and efforts to make trauma EMA data readily shareable.
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spelling doaj-art-dd4894e47d5c42da92ff6cdbf6268ca52025-08-20T02:41:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662025-12-0116110.1080/20008066.2025.2477423Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data proceduresBryce Hruska0Marilyn L. Piccirillo1Lonneke I. M. Lenferink2Maria L. Pacella-LaBarbara3Ateka A. Contractor4Matthew Price5Talya Greene6Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USADepartment of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USADepartment of Psychology, Health & Technology, Faculty of Behavioural Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Enschede, the NetherlandsDepartment of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USADepartment of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USADepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USADepartment of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UKBackground: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involves collecting data from people in their everyday lives one or more times per day over the course of days, weeks, or months. EMA has been used in the traumatic stress field to better understand how trauma-relevant symptoms, experiences, and behaviours occur under naturalistic conditions and in relation to one another. The FAIR principles specify that data should be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable to maximise the knowledge gained from individual research studies. However, it is unclear how EMA design decisions and data procedures might affect the implementation of these principles.Objective: We articulate key design considerations and data procedures when performing trauma EMA research and outline some challenges and recommendations for implementing the FAIR data principles in trauma EMA research.Method and Results: Using examples from existing trauma EMA studies, we discuss the decisions made when preparing a trauma EMA study; data processing and analytic procedures performed following data collection; and challenges that exist for their implementation, as well as practices that trauma EMA researchers can incorporate into their research to promote FAIR data.Conclusions: Implementing the FAIR data principles in trauma EMA research is critical to advancing scientific knowledge. Researchers should deposit their data in reputable repositories and include documentation detailing design decisions and the steps taken to clean and prepare data. Many challenges remain for the implementation of these practices including balancing privacy concerns and efforts to make trauma EMA data readily shareable.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2477423Ecological momentary assessmentFAIR data principlestraumaPTSDambulatory assessmentdaily diary
spellingShingle Bryce Hruska
Marilyn L. Piccirillo
Lonneke I. M. Lenferink
Maria L. Pacella-LaBarbara
Ateka A. Contractor
Matthew Price
Talya Greene
Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Ecological momentary assessment
FAIR data principles
trauma
PTSD
ambulatory assessment
daily diary
title Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
title_full Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
title_fullStr Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
title_full_unstemmed Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
title_short Making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies FAIR: review of design considerations and data procedures
title_sort making trauma ecological momentary assessment studies fair review of design considerations and data procedures
topic Ecological momentary assessment
FAIR data principles
trauma
PTSD
ambulatory assessment
daily diary
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2477423
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