Diaries in clinical psychology and psychotherapy: a selective review

Abstract

The present paper gives a review of diary methods in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. After a brief discussion of the history and the development of the diary method a description of the methodology and technology of diaries in their scientific and practical uses is given. The main part of the paper presents an overview of instruments used in research and practice in clinical psychology concerning mood and affectivity, anxiety disorders, pain, psycho-physiological states, eating disorders and alcoholism. Additionally, methodological advantages and problems of these tools are discussed. Finally strategies for the assurance and enhancement of the methodological quality of diary data are discussed. The paper comes to several conclusions: (1) although many instruments have been developed during recent years for research and practical aims, they are concerned with only a few of the many clinical phenomena; (2) although some diaries achieve favourable psychometric results, the reliability and validity of most of the instruments has not yet been explored in a satisfactory manner; (3) although most diaries would also be useful for practical reasons, many deal with research aims. Therefore, future work should focus on practical use as well as on psychometric testing. Copyright  2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTIONThe diary approach is important as an assessment and intervention strategy in various areas of clinical and psychotherapeutic research and practice. Historically, this approach started with the cognitive turn in psychology and behaviour therapy in the early 1960s; new technologies of investigation (e.g. micro-computers, palm-tops) and of data analysis (e.g. computerized techniques) during the * Correspondence to: Dr A-R. Laireiter, Institute of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria.1990s made diaries into a very intensively used methodology in psychology and psychotherapy (Fahrenberg and Myrtek, 1996;Foster et al., 1999). At present, two methodological strategies can be differentiated: (1) structured instruments relying on standardized questionnaires, and (2) narrative diaries using qualitative self-disclosure documents that become content analysed for scientific use. Numerically and scientifically the first group is much more important and is not only used in clinical psychology but also in various other fields of psychology (personality; Buse and Pawlik, 1996; social psychology;Reis and Wheeler, 1991; coping research;Eckenrode and Bolger, 1995; personal Duck, 1991;Laireiter and Thiele, 1995; developmental psychology;Shapiro and Cole, 1999; psychophysiology; Fahrenberg and Myrtek, 1996). The present paper deals with diaries in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. It starts from a short historical note on the developmental roots of this approach. In a second step the technology of diaries is introduced. The main part of the paper gives an overview of the most important instruments in the six major areas of applic...

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