Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach Research Articles

Awake bruxism report in a population of dental students with and without ecological momentary assessment monitorization-A randomised trial.

The Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) concept was the basis for developing a smartphone application for the real-time report of awake bruxism (AB) activities. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the EMA with a randomised controlled trial designed to compare the frequency of AB reported in two separate single observation points between a group of students monitored over time with an EMA smartphone application and a non-EMA monitored group. Sixty-four (N = 64) dental students (22.3 YO [±2.6]; 52F; 12 M) answered the Oral Behaviour Checklist (OBC-1) and were randomised into an EMA-group (EG) and control group (CG). EG were monitored with a smartphone application for AB report during seven consecutive days and completed three EMA monitoring periods (EMA-1, 2 and 3) at one-month intervals. After the third period (EMA-3), both EG and CG answered again the OBC (OBC-2). Descriptive statistics were performed to characterise the sample. Pearson's chi-squared test, Fixer Exact test and post hoc Z test with Bonferroni correction were performed. The study hypothesis was that EMA could influence the AB reported by the participants because it implies an increase in the awareness, self-recognition, and self-control of bruxism behaviours. The level of significance was set at p < .05. The percentage of participants who changed the report of the activity of clenching their teeth while awake between OBC-1 and OBC-2 was significantly higher among participants in EG, when compared to CG (p = .027). For all other behaviours reported the within- and between-group differences from OBC-1 to OBC-2 were not significant. Clenching and bracing were the most frequently reported, whilst grinding was the less frequent behaviour. A smartphone-based EMA approach demonstrated be useful to monitor AB over time, increasing individual's awareness, particularly to bracing and clenching behaviours.

Intraindividual variability in post-stroke cognition and its relationship with activities of daily living and social functioning: an ecological momentary assessment approach

ABSTRACT Introduction Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a methodological approach to studying intraindividual variation over time. This study aimed to use EMA to determine the variability of cognition in individuals with chronic stroke, identify the latent classes of cognitive variability, and examine any differences in daily activities, social functioning, and neuropsychological performance between these latent classes. Methods Participants (N = 202) with mild-to-moderate stroke and over 3-month post-stroke completed a study protocol, including smartphone-based EMA and two lab visits. Participants responded to five EMA surveys daily for 14 days to assess cognition. They completed patient-reported measures and neuropsychological assessments during lab visits. Using latent class analysis, we derived four indicators to quantify cognitive variability and identified latent classes among participants. We used ANOVA and Chi-square to test differences between these latent classes in daily activities, social functioning, and neuropsychological performance. Results The latent class analysis converged on a three-class model. The moderate and high variability classes demonstrated significantly greater problems in daily activities and social functioning than the low class. They had significantly higher proportions of participants with problems in daily activities and social functioning than the low class. Neuropsychological performance was not statistically different between the three classes, although a trend approaching statistically significant difference was observed in working memory and executive function domains. Discussion EMA could capture intraindividual cognitive variability in stroke survivors. It offers a new approach to understanding the impact and mechanism of post-stroke cognitive problems in daily life and identifying individuals benefiting from self-regulation interventions.

RELATIONS BETWEEN MOOD AND DAILY ACTIVITIES: AN ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT

Abstract Behavioral activation (BA) is an evidence-based therapy for depression that has recently been applied for informal caregivers. Investigating the mechanisms of BA could lead to enhanced quality of care by optimizing guidance to patients. We examined concomitant and lagged associations between mood and daily activities in 50 informal caregivers using an Ecological Momentary Assessment approach via smartphone technology. Participants recorded the number and types of activities they did each day in a 14-day period. Activities were rated for enjoyment on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being most pleasant). Mood for the day was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, (5 being the most positive). Linear mixed-model analyses examined concomitant and lagged (+/- 1 day) associations between activities and moods. Results indicated concomitant associations between mood and both frequency (t = 2.36, p = .019) and enjoyment of activities (t = 4.11, p &amp;lt; .001). Previous day’s mood was not associated with either frequency or enjoyment of activities the following day. Previous day’s enjoyment of activities was associated with mood the following day (t = 2.34, p = .02). There was no association between frequency of activities the previous day and mood the following day. These findings support BA theory by suggesting that increasing engagement in enjoyable activities may have positive impacts on mood not only in the moment but also have a lasting impact on future mood. Future research should expand this model by including covariates important to the population such as age and activity restriction.

Aberrant positive affect dynamics in individuals with subthreshold depression: Evidence from laboratory and real-world assessments

Background/ObjectiveReduced positive affect (PA) is a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the precursor of MDD, subthreshold depression (StD), has received less attention in this regard. Therefore, we examined PA dynamics in StD, integrating laboratory-based and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approaches. MethodParticipants were college students recruited from Chinese universities (31 with StD, and 39 healthy controls (HC)). Positive mood was induced in the laboratory by an eight-minute comedy clip used to assess PA reactivity and maintenance. To extend findings to the real world and explore mechanisms of PA maintenance, 53 participants with StD and 64 HC reported their emotional states 14 times daily for one week via EMA. Multilevel models were used to test for predictors of PA inertia. ResultsIn the laboratory, participants with StD achieved the same PA reactivity as HC when facing positive stimuli, yet the curve-fitting revealed difficulties for the StD group in maintaining PA over time. Such reduced capacity was further observed in real-world settings, manifesting in significantly greater PA inertia. ConclusionsHigh PA inertia in daily life may reflect resistance to mood change in StD, explaining anhedonia and difficulties with emotional maintenance, and highlighting the need for early identification.

Animal impact in real‐life: Study protocol for an ecological momentary assessment study on the role of animal characteristics in the relationship between companion animals and mental wellbeing

AbstractThe contribution of companion animals to human mental wellbeing has received an increasing amount of scientific interest. Research findings concerning the nature of this relationship are however mixed. Variability in behavior and characteristics of the animal might explain this heterogeneity. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the association between companion animals and mental wellbeing in daily life and the role that animal characteristics play in this association, using an ecological momentary assessment approach. The sample will comprise of adult owners of a dog and/or a cat. Participants will start with a baseline assessment including demographic characteristics of the owner and the animal, as well as the C‐BARQ or Fe‐BARQ to assess general behavior of the animal. After the baseline assessment, a signal‐contingent scheme with semi‐random intervals will be used to examine human–animal interaction (HAI) in the natural setting of pet‐owners' daily lives. Participants will complete up to ten short assessments per day over the course of 5 days, reporting on the presence of‐, interaction with‐, and behavior of the companion animal. They also report on stressful activities and events, and on their current positive and negative affect. Multilevel regression analysis will be used to investigate the relationship between HAI, animal characteristics and mental wellbeing. With this study we hope to provide insight into the type of animal, behavior of the animal and specific elements of interaction with an animal, and their potential associations with human wellbeing. The knowledge gathered in this study will add to unraveling mechanisms underlying HAI and help to identify in which contexts and under what conditions HAI can have the greatest impact.

Step-by-step to more creativity: The number of steps in everyday life is related to creative ideation performance.

Research indicated an association of acute and chronic physical activity with creative ideation performance. However, no study to date applied ecologically valid ambulatory methods with the potential to generalize these positive relationships to everyday life contexts. This study assessed acute and chronic physical activity (i.e., number of steps assessed via acceleration sensors) as well as creative ideation performance (in the verbal and figural domain) with an ecological momentary assessment approach in a sample of 157 young adults. We found that both single bouts of walking and walking regularly were associated with more original verbal ideas. Positive affect did not mediate this association; however, for figural creativity, the indirect path of acute physical activity via acute positive affect was significant. Although the relationship between walking and creativity seems to be domain-specific, the study findings suggest that the positive effects of physical activity on creativity transfer to everyday life contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations Between Valenced News and Affect in Daily Life: Experimental and Ecological Momentary Assessment Approaches

ABSTRACT In 203 (mean age = 38.04 years, SD = 12.05) participants, we tested the association between valenced news and affect using a 14-day, smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment protocol consisting of two components: 1) a once-per-day experimental protocol in which participants were exposed to good news and bad news stories and 2) a four-times-per-day protocol capturing ecological fluctuations in news consumption. Across both protocols, we replicate findings that consumption of positively valenced news is associated with increased positive affect and decreased negative affect while consumption of negatively valenced news is associated with increased negative affect and decreased positive affect. By integrating the ecological momentary assessment data with network science methodologies, news selection and news effects were modeled simultaneously, uncovering selection processes whereby current positive affect, but not negative affect, predicted future valenced news consumption. Altogether, findings indicate that everyday news consumption influences positive and negative affect and may serve mood management functions for positive but not negative affect.

Micro urban spaces and mental well-being: Measuring the exposure to urban landscapes along daily mobility paths and their effects on momentary depressive symptomatology among older population

The urban environment plays an important role for the mental health of residents. Researchers mainly focus on residential neighbourhoods as exposure context, leaving aside the effects of non-residential environments. In order to consider the daily experience of urban spaces, a people-based approach focused on mobility paths is needed. Applying this approach, (1) this study investigated whether individuals’ momentary mental well-being is related to the exposure to micro-urban spaces along the daily mobility paths within the two previous hours; (2) it explored whether these associations differ when environmental exposures are defined considering all location points or only outdoor location points; and (3) it examined the associations between the types of activity and mobility and momentary depressive symptomatology. Using a geographically-explicit ecological momentary assessment approach (GEMA), momentary depressive symptomatology of 216 older adults living in the Ile-de-France region was assessed using smartphone surveys, while participants were tracked with a GPS receiver and an accelerometer for seven days. Exposure to multiple elements of the streetscape was computed within a street network buffer of 25 m of each GPS point over the two hours prior to the questionnaire. Mobility and activity type were documented from a GPS-based mobility survey. We estimated Bayesian generalized mixed effect models with random effects at the individual and day levels and took into account time autocorrelation. We also estimated fixed effects. A better momentary mental wellbeing was observed when residents performed leisure activities or were involved in active mobility and when they were exposed to walkable areas (pedestrian dedicated paths, open spaces, parks and green areas), water elements, and commerce, leisure and cultural attractors over the previous two hours. These relationships were stronger when exposures were defined based only on outdoor location points rather than all location points, and when we considered within-individual differences compared to between-individual differences.

The non-ergodic nature of mental health and psychiatric disorders: implications for biomarker and diagnostic research.

The non-ergodic nature of mental health and psychiatric disorders: implications for biomarker and diagnostic research.

Linking self-disgust, negative affect, and PTSD in sexual assault: An ecological momentary assessment approach.

Although self-disgust has been implicated in sexual assault-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), empirical evidence of this association is limited. Participants with sexual assault-related PTSD (n = 19), sexual assault without PTSD (n = 20), and healthy controls (n = 21) completed "trait" measures of disgust proneness, self-disgust, and negative affect (NA; i.e., anxiety and depression). An ecological momentary assessment approach was also employed, where participants reported "state" levels of PTSD symptoms, self-disgust, and NA in the morning, afternoon, and evening for 1 week. Those with PTSD reported more trait disgust proneness, self-disgust, and NA than those who experienced sexual assault without PTSD and controls. However, those experiencing sexual assault without PTSD and controls did not differ from each other. Participants with a history of sexual assault also experienced higher self-disgust and NA during the week than controls. Those with higher PTSD symptoms during the week also experienced more self-disgust and NA. Similarly, changes in PTSD symptoms were associated with changes in self-disgust and NA during the week. Although a temporal association was found where NA predicted subsequent PTSD symptoms (and vice versa) during the week, a temporal link between self-disgust and PTSD symptoms (or vice versa) was not found. These findings suggest that the link between self-disgust and sexual assault-related PTSD is more correlational than causal. The implications of these findings for understanding how trait and state self-disgust fits within the broader emotional network of sexual assault-related PTSD are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations of SLC6A4 methylation with salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and subjective stress in everyday life

Dysregulations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympatho-adrenal medullary (SAM) axis are associated with mental and somatic illness. However, there is lack of knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. Epigenetic states in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) were shown to be associated with stress in various forms. We hypothesized that levels of DNA methylation (DNAm) of SLC6A4 would be associated with altered SAM- and HPA regulation in daily life. N = 74 healthy persons participated in the study. An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approach was used to assess indicators of stress in daily life. Each day included six concurrent assessments of saliva, to quantify cortisol (sCort; HPA axis) and alpha-amylase (sAA; SAM axis), and to assess self-reports on subjective stress. To assess SLC6A4 DNAm, peripheral blood was drawn and analyzed via bisulfite pyrosequencing. All data were assessed in two waves three months apart, each including two days of EMA and the assessment of SLC6A4 DNAm. Data were analyzed using multilevel models. On the between-person level, higher average levels of SLC6A4 DNAm were associated with higher average levels of sAA, but not with average levels of sCort. On the within-person level, higher levels of SLC6A4 DNAm were associated with lower levels of sAA and sCort. There were no associations of subjective stress with SLC6A4 DNAm. The results help to clarify the association between environmental stress and stress axes regulation, pointing towards an important role of differential within- and between-person effects of SLC6A4 DNAm, which might shape this association.

Day-to-day fluctuations of fatigue severity in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: an ecological momentary assessment approach.

The variable course of fatigue adds to the disease burden of patients with OA yet it has been poorly understood. This study aimed to describe within-person fluctuations of fatigue severity and explore its associations with pain, positive affect, negative affect, sleep, and perceived exertion of physical activity. Individuals with chronic knee pain or a clinical diagnosis of knee OA ≥40 years of age completed daily assessments about fatigue, pain, positive affect, negative affect, sleep, perceived exertion of physical activity (numeric rating scale 0-10), and overwhelming fatigue (yes/no) on a smartphone over 14 days. Within-person fluctuations of fatigue severity were described by the probability of acute changes (PACs) and s.d.s. Associations with pain, positive affect, negative affect, sleep, and perceived exertion of physical activity were explored using multilevel models. Forty-nine individuals were included (mean age 63.4 years; 82% female). PACs and s.d.s of within-person daily fatigue fluctuations ranged from 0.00 to 0.80 and 0.35 to 2.95, respectively. Within-person associations of fatigue severity were moderate for positive affect [β = -0.57 (95% CI -0.67, -0.47)], weak for pain [β = 0.41 (95% CI 0.29, 0.53)] and negative affect [β = 0.40 (95% CI 0.21, 0.58)], and negligible for sleep [β = -0.13 (95% CI -0.18, -0.08)] and perceived exertion of physical activity [β = 0.18 (95% CI 0.09, 0.26)]. Some individuals showed almost stable day-to-day levels of fatigue severity, whereas others experienced a substantial number of clinically relevant fluctuations. To reduce the burden of daily fatigue fluctuations, our results suggest that pain, positive and negative affect rather than sleep and perceived exertion of physical activity should be considered as potential targets.

A Comparison of Hugging Frequency and Its Association with Momentary Mood Before and During COVID-19 Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a drastic decrease in human social interactions including social touch. One of the most prevalent forms of touch is hugging. Hugging has been demonstrated to benefit both physical and mental well-being. In the present study, we used an ecological momentary assessment approach to assess the relationship between hugging and momentary mood in two independent cohorts sampled prior or during the pandemic. We found that the frequency of hugging was significantly reduced during the pandemic. Using multilevel modeling, we found a significant positive association between momentary mood and daily hugs. This effect was moderated by the cohort, as individuals during the pandemic showed a stronger positive association compared to the cohort sampled prior to the pandemic. While we have to stress that our results are correlational in nature, they potentially indicate that social touch is more beneficial in times of social distancing.

Social environment and moment-to-moment variation in self-construal among Latinx emerging adults: An ecological momentary assessment approach

Self-construal involves how one thinks of themselves in relations to others, including how much one thinks of themselves as separate from others (independent) or connected (interdependent). Researchers have typically assumed these self-perceptions are stable. However, given self-construal’s basis in the perceptions of others and the self, it is highly likely that self-construal can vary in different social environments. Thus, the goals of the present study were to examine (1) whether independent and interdependent self-construal fluctuates within-person among Latinx emerging adults from day-to-day and moment-to-moment, and (2) how individuals’ social environment is concurrently associated with fluctuations in self-construal. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), Latinx emerging adults (N = 191) reported on their independent and interdependent self-construal, as well as aspects of their social environment (occurrence of social interaction, interaction partner, quality of social interaction, and closeness of relationship) twice a day for 14 days, for up to 4058 observations in total. Using multilevel modeling to partition the variance in self-construal at the moment, day, and person level, we found substantial moment-to-moment variation. Further analyses indicated that aspects of the social environment were consistently associated with interdependent, but not independent, self-construal. The findings highlight the need to re-conceptualize changes in self-construal as a function of the social environment, and the need to measure aspects of culture, including self-construal, using ecologically valid measures that allow for more dynamic and sensitive assessments.

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Awake Bruxism Behaviors: A Scoping Review of Findings from Smartphone-Based Studies in Healthy Young Adults.

The recent introduction of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) smartphone-based strategies has allowed achieving some interesting data on the frequency of different awake bruxism (AB) behaviors reported by an individual in the natural environment. The present paper aims to review the literature on the reported frequency of AB based on data gathered via smartphone EMA technology. On September 2022, a systematic search in the Pubmed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases was performed to identify all peer-reviewed English-language studies assessing awake bruxism behaviors using a smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment. The selected articles were assessed independently by two authors according to a structured reading of the articles' format (PICO). A literature search, for which the search terms "Awake Bruxism" and "Ecological Momentary Assessment" were used, identified 15 articles. Of them, eight fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The results of seven studies using the same smartphone-based app reported a frequency of AB behaviors in the range between 28.3 and 40% over one week, while another investigation adopted a different smartphone-based EMA approach via WhatsApp using a web-based survey program and reported an AB frequency of 58.6%. Most included studies were based on convenience samples with limited age range, highlighting the need for more studies on other population samples. Despite the methodological limits, the results of the reviewed studies provide a standpoint for comparison for future studies on the epidemiology of awake bruxism behaviors.

Entropy as a Measure of Auditory Environment Diversity: An Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) Approach.

To determine the validity and usefulness of entropy computed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data as a measure of auditory environment diversity. We conducted two secondary analyses on existing EMA datasets. The first determined the construct validity of auditory environment entropy by examining the effect of COVID-19 on entropy. To demonstrate entropy's usefulness, the second examined if entropy could predict the benefit of hearing aid (HA) noise reduction features. Consistent with the known effect of COVID-19 on social lifestyle, COVID-19 significantly reduced auditory environment diversity, supporting entropy's construct validity. HA users with higher entropy reported poorer outcomes and perceived more benefit from HA features, supporting the feasibility of using entropy to predict communication performance and feature benefit. Entropy derived from EMA data is a valid and useful auditory environment diversity measure. This measure could allow researchers to better understand the communication needs of people with hearing loss.

Supplemental Material for Linking Self-Disgust, Negative Affect, and PTSD in Sexual Assault: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach

Supplemental Material for Linking Self-Disgust, Negative Affect, and PTSD in Sexual Assault: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach

Exploratory study of the effects of sex and hormonal contraceptives on alertness, fatigue, and sleepiness of police officers on rotating shifts.

This exploratory study assessed the impact of sex and hormonal contraceptives (HC) use on the homeostatic and diurnal variation of alertness, fatigue, sleepiness, psychomotor performance, and sleep behavior in police officers working rotating shifts. A total of 56 men and 20 women (6 using, 11 not using, and 3 with unknown use of HC) participated in an observational study throughout a month-long work cycle. Participants wore an actigraph, filled out a sleep and work log, answered questionnaires (Samn-Perelli, KSS, Visual Analogue Scales), and completed 5-min Psychomotor Vigilance Tasks (PVT) according to an ecological momentary assessment approach. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the effects of group (men, women, and HC use), time awake, and time of day on the dependent variables. Self-reported parameters and performance significantly varied with time awake and time of day. Women were more fatigued and sleepier than men, when considering both time awake and time of day. Compared to men, women using HC were more fatigued, less alert, and sleepier. Women had less attention lapses than men after 7 and 17 h awake, although no main effect of HC was detected. Women tended to rate themselves as more fatigued than men, especially when using HC. Surprisingly, psychomotor performances of women were sometimes better than those of men. This exploratory study indicates that sex and HC are important factors to consider in occupational medicine.

Tobacco advertising exposure and product use among young adults: An ecological momentary assessment approach

IntroductionTobacco-related content is prevalent on social media, yet many methods of measuring exposure are inadequate due to the personalized nature of online marketing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between exposure to pro-tobacco messages (both industry-sponsored and user-generated) and the use of tobacco products, as reported via ecological momentary assessment (EMA). MethodsYoung adults (n = 175) were instructed to record all sightings of marketing (both in-person and online) related to tobacco for 28 days. Tobacco product use and recall of message encounters were assessed daily using app-initiated EMA. ResultsParticipants who reported exposure to tobacco messages were significantly more likely to report using tobacco, adjusting for gender, age, race/ethnicity, baseline use of any tobacco product, and having friends who use tobacco and e-cigarettes (p <.001). For each industry-sponsored message viewed, the odds of using tobacco or e-cigarettes in a given day increased by a factor of 1.77 (95 % CI = 1.41, 2.23). For each user-generated message viewed, the odds of using tobacco or e-cigarettes in a given day increased by a factor of 1.52 (95 % CI = 1.27, 1.83). DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically examine the association between exposure to user-generated messages and daily tobacco use. The findings suggests that there is a unique element to user-generated messages that distinguishes them from both traditional marketing and from simple peer influence.

LONELINESS AND SELF-RATED DAILY SLEEP QUALITY: RESULTS FROM THE EINSTEIN AGING STUDY

Abstract Poor sleep quality is a common problem and has profound physical and mental effects on older adults. Loneliness, another common and harmful condition for older adults, is associated with heightened levels of vigilance and feeling unsafe, which may contribute to poor sleep. Although some studies show that trait loneliness is related to compromised sleep, there are few studies examining whether and how day-to-day variations in loneliness relate to sleep quality. The current study aimed to examine within- and between-person associations of loneliness and daily self-rated sleep quality using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approach. Community-dwelling participants (n=317, Mage=77 (range=70–90), 56% white) reported loneliness and self-rated sleep quality during a 14-day EMA study via mobile phones. Trait loneliness was measured once prior to EMA. Unexpectedly, multilevel modeling showed that the amount of loneliness experienced on a given day did not predict sleep quality, however lower levels of prior night sleep quality predicted elevated levels of loneliness (p &amp;lt; .01). Regarding the between-person association, individual differences in trait loneliness were not related to sleep quality, but differences in average levels of EMA loneliness were related to sleep quality, such that people who felt higher levels of loneliness on average during the 14 days reported worse quality of sleep during that time period than others (p &amp;lt; .0001). These results suggest that worse sleep quality may be a factor that increases loneliness, and may not be a consequence of loneliness. Potential benefits of using EMA loneliness in research of daily sleep quality in older adults will be discussed.