Analytic strategies for understanding affective (in)stability and other dynamic processes in psychopathology.

Abstract

The dynamics of psychopathological symptoms as a topic of research has been neglected for some time, likely because of the inability of cross-sectional and retrospective reports to uncover the ebb and flow of symptoms. Data gathered with the experience sampling method (ESM) enable researchers to study symptom variability and instability over time as well as the dynamic interplay between the environment, personal experiences, and psychopathological symptoms. ESM data can illuminate these dynamic processes, if time is both considered and integrated into (a) the research question itself, (b) the assessment or sampling method, and (c) the data analytic strategy. The authors highlight the complexity of assessing affective instability and unstable interpersonal relationships and explore sampling and analytic methods. Finally, they propose guidelines for future investigations. For the assessment of affective instability, the authors endorse the use of time-contingent recordings and of instability indices that address temporal dependency. For the assessment of unstable interpersonal relationships, they advocate the use of event-contingent recordings and separate analyses within and across dyads.

Affective instability in patients with chronic pain: a diary approach

“…In line with this view, affective instability has been found to be associated with lower wellbeing and various forms of psychopathology [15,25,55,56]. To our knowledge, there are no studies that have investigated the role of affective instability in patients with chronic pain.…”

“…Recently, the examination of the dynamics of affect has increased in order to improve our understanding of psychological maladjustment and psychopathology [15,25,28,55,56]. Within this emerging field, emotional responding reflects a dynamic process that takes place in response to changing contextual demands.…”

Unraveling affective dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A theoretical model and empirical evidence.

“…The main characteristics are: (a) real time assessments that minimize retrospective bias; (b) repeated assessments that enable the modeling of dynamic processes; and (c) assessments that occur in real life situations to ensure that affective responses to personally relevant stimuli in personally relevant environments are assessed (Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2013). Ambulatory assessment is a particularly well-suited method for assessing the dynamics of psychopathological symptoms as it captures the film of life rather than a snapshot (Ebner-Priemer, Eid, Kleindienst, Stabenow, & Trull, 2009). However, please note that ambulatory assessment and laboratory experiments are not fundamentally opposed alternatives, but instead should be considered as complementary approaches ).…”

Within-student variability in learning experiences, and teachers’ perceptions of students’ task-focus

“…First, the lagged variables we created spanned from 5 to 29 observations, which is shorter than the typical time-series model. However, for the purpose of calculating the MSSD the number of observations might be sufficient (Ebner-Priemer et al, 2009). Future studies of students' learning processes should aim at collecting more repeated measures for the purpose of creating longer time-series.…”

“…To do so, we calculated MSSD for each indicator of our latent constructs and modelled these using multilevel structural equation models (MSEM). Although time-series typically requires longer stretches of time-points, the MSSD method is suggested to be robust also for shorter time-series e.g., a number of time-points during each day (Ebner-Priemer, Eid, Kleindienst, Stabenow, & Trull, 2009 …”