Work

Conceptualizing and Estimating Process Speed in Studies Employing Ecological Momentary Assessment Designs: A Multilevel Variance Decomposition Approach

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Researchers have been making use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and other study designs that sample feelings and behaviors in real time and in naturalistic settings to study temporal dynamics and contextual factors of a wide variety of psychological, physiological, and behavioral processes. As EMA designs become more widespread, questions are arising about the frequency of data sampling, with direct implications for participants' burden and researchers' ability to capture and study dynamic processes. Traditionally, spectral analytic techniques are used for time series data to identify process speed. However, the nature of EMA data, often collected with fewer than 100 measurements per person, sampled at randomly spaced intervals, and replete with planned and unplanned missingness, precludes application of traditional spectral analytic techniques. Building on principles of variance partitioning used in the generalizability theory of measurement and spectral analysis, we illustrate the utility of multilevel variance decompositions for isolating process speed in EMA-type data. Simulation and empirical data from a smoking-cessation study are used to demonstrate the method and to evaluate the process speed of smoking urges and quitting self-efficacy. Results of the multilevel variance decomposition approach can inform process-oriented theory and future EMA study designs.

Source: Multivariate Behavioral Research

DOI: 10.1080/00273171.2011.625310

Authors: Mariya P. Shiyko, Nilam Ram

Institutions: Pennsylvania State University, Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Language: English

Topic: Mental Health Research Topics

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Social Science Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute

Awards: Psychosocial and Functional Lability in Old Age: Understanding Multidimensional A, Pre-Surgical Smoking Cessation Intervention in Cancer, ARRA: Tools for Articulating Within-Person Dynamic Models of Interpersonal Intera, Psychological Terminal Decline as a Multidimensional Process of Age, Approaching, Center for Prevention and Treatment Methodology