Symposium 62 - Leveraging novel statistical methods to describe momentary symptom fluctuations in daily life

Chair(s)

• DS

  Devon Sandel-Fernandez, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  University of California, Berkeley
  Petaluma, California
• EH

  Esther Howe, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  University of California at Berkeley
  Berkeley, California

Discussant(s)

• SV

  Sarah E. Victor, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Assistant Professor
  Texas Tech University
  Lubbock, Texas

Presenter(s)

• KK

  Kevin King, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

  Associate Professor
  University of Washington, Seattle
  Seattle, Washington
• RJ

  Ross Jacobucci, Ph.D.

  Assistant Professor of Psychology
  University of Notre Dame
  Notre Dame, Indiana
• DS

  Devon Sandel-Fernandez, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  University of California, Berkeley
  Petaluma, California
• CH

  Chris Hughes, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

  Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Providence, Rhode Island
• EH

  Esther Howe, M.A. (she/her/hers)

  University of California at Berkeley
  Berkeley, California

Over the past two decades, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study design has grown in popularity due to the clinical utility of modeling within-person temporal processes and symptom fluctuations. Although EMA data collection is now quite common, methods to analyze these data and appropriately account for within- and between-person variation in symptom experiences are still in their infancy. This symposium presents novel approaches to capturing within-day symptom experiences. 

Using Bayesian multilevel models, Dr. Kevin King from the University of Washington will examine whether and how emotion regulation (e.g., strategy use, appraisals, and emotion differentiation, etc.) might modify the momentary emotion-urgency association at either the state or trait level. 

Dr. Ross Jacobucci from the University of Notre Dame will present on leveraging baseline data to identify heterogeneity in within-person processes via longitudinal recursive partitioning in a sample of suicidal adults. Devon Sandel-Fernandez, M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley will address the heterogeneity of within-person processes via a distinct yet related angle: She will present an idiographic model of momentary urgency by defining momentary emotion-behavior associations when both variables vary per person, in a sample engaging in a range of impulsive behaviors (e.g., self-harm, substance use, eating disorder behaviors). 

Dr. Christopher Hughes from Brown University and Esther Howe, M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley will each address the temporal coupling of momentary symptoms. Dr. Hughes will assess the time-varying relationship between suicidal ideation and momentary cognitive processes (e.g., rumination) in a sample of adults. Esther will leverage set theory, probability, and information theory to describe the dynamics of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emergence in the weeks immediately following sexual assault by (1) evaluating the co-occurrence of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional states and environmental context factors within individuals, and (2) evaluating the degree to which these idiographic state-environment sets predict the occurrence of PTSD at 3-month follow-up.

Dr. Sarah Victor, a renowned suicide and self-harm researcher with expertise on EMA methods will serve as discussant. 

Taken together, these five talks provide an overview of novel techniques being applied to capture clinical symptoms and processes in EMA data.