The Application of Intensive Longitudinal Methods to Investigate Change: Stimulating the Field of Applied Family Research

Abstract

The use of intensive longitudinal methods (ILM)—rapid in situ assessment at micro timescales—can be overlaid on RCTs and other study designs in applied family research. Especially when done as part of a multiple timescale design—in bursts over macro timescales, ILM can advance the study of the mechanisms and effects of family interventions and processes of family change. ILM confers measurement benefits in accurately assessing momentary and variable experiences and captures fine-grained dynamic pictures of time-ordered processes. Thus, ILM allows opportunities to investigate new research questions about intervention effects on within-subject (i.e., within-person, within-family) variability (i.e., dynamic constructs) and about the time-ordered change process that interventions induce in families and family members beginning with the first intervention session. This paper discusses the need and rationale for applying ILM to intervention evaluation, new research questions that can be addressed with ILM, example research using ILM in the related fields of basic family research and the evaluation of individual-based (rather than family-based) interventions. Finally, the paper touches on practical challenges and considerations associated with ILM and points readers to resources for the application of ILM.

A cognitive versus behavioral approach to emotion regulation training for externalizing behavior problems in adolescence: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

“…A specific strength of the current study is that it includes the use of intensive longitudinal data, which allows us to examine dynamic within-subject changes. An additional advantage of this assessment method is that the weekly and daily diary questionnaires are less retrospective than regular measures and therefore might be less susceptible to recall bias [ 66 ]. Moreover, the current study will use multiple sources of information, as externalizing behavior problems will be reported by adolescents, parents, and teachers.…”

Exploring diurnal variation using piecewise linear splines: an example using blood pressure

“…As debate remains in relation to how to correctly quantify short-term BPV [ 24 , 49 ] our approach offers new alternatives that utilise the full power of ABPM that is often lost when using summary measures such as SD because it only reflects the dispersion of measurements around a single value (mean) not accounting for the order in which BP measurements were obtained [ 12 , 50 ]. As argued by Bamberger et al there are a large and increasing variety of mathematical equations available which allow us to test specific hypotheses about, and estimate parameters of, growth or change (BP) with varying purposes such as summarizing the shape of change across a sample or determining patterns in variability [ 51 ]. Despite this however, Diehl et al suggests that summary measures and multilevel models described here are two of the most common techniques used specifically for exploring BP changes [ 52 ].…”

On the Road to Recovery psychological therapy versus treatment as usual for forensic mental health patients: study protocol for a randomized controlled feasibility trial

“…Participants will complete a range of self-report measures and a clinical interview at baseline (T0), post treatment (T1), and at follow-up (T2), 3-months after the T1 assessment, with an assessor who will be blind to participants’ allocation status. Clinical effect sizes will be estimated using two approaches, at the group level for a range of clinical outcomes by comparing change from pre to post treatment and at the individual level for the two primary outcomes—insight into mental disorder and use of adaptive coping skills—using intensive longitudinal methods (ILM) [ 7 , 8 ]. Findings from two large treatment evaluations, the PEPS trial [ 9 ] and Ministry of Justice’s evaluation of the prison-based Core Sex Offender Treatment Programme [ 10 ], demonstrated that psychological therapies have the potential to cause harm to patients, a concept which has received little attention until recently.…”

“…Following an intensive longitudinal methods (ILM) approach [ 7 , 8 ], the BIS and CSQ will be administered to all participants each week during the 12-week study treatment phase. Members of the local health care team will administer these weekly measures and as such they will not be blind to participants’ treatment allocation status.…”