Dataset Information

Examining reactivity to intensive longitudinal ecological momentary assessment: 12-month prospective study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To examine the association between intensive, longitudinal ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and self-reported eating behaviors.

Methods

Secondary analysis of the EMPOWER study-a 12-month observational study that examined the microprocesses of relapse following intentional weight loss using smartphone-administered EMA-was conducted. Participants were asked to complete four types of EMA surveys using a mobile app. For this analysis, only the number of completed random EMA surveys was used. Using linear mixed-effects modeling, we analyzed whether the number of completed random EMA surveys was associated with changes in self-reported dietary restraint, dietary disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger measured using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ).

Results

During the 12-month study, 132 participants completed a mean of 1062 random EMA surveys (range: 673-1362). The median time it took for participants to complete random EMA surveys was 20 s and 90% of random EMA surveys were completed within 46 s. The number of completed random EMA surveys was not significantly associated with the TFEQ scores.

Conclusions

Intensive longitudinal EMA did not influence self-reported eating behaviors. The findings suggest that EMA can be used to frequently assess real-world eating behaviors with minimal concern about assessment reactivity. Nonetheless, care must be taken when designing EMA surveys-particularly when using self-reported outcome measures.

Level of evidence

Level III, prospective observational study.

SUBMITTER: Cajita MI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9971140 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Examining reactivity to intensive longitudinal ecological momentary assessment: 12-month prospective study.

Cajita Maan Isabella MI Rathbun Stephen L SL Shiffman Saul S Kline Christopher E CE Imes Christopher C CC Zheng Yaguang Y Ewing Linda J LJ Burke Lora E LE

Eating and weight disorders : EWD 20230227 1

<h4>Purpose</h4>To examine the association between intensive, longitudinal ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and self-reported eating behaviors.<h4>Methods</h4>Secondary analysis of the EMPOWER study-a 12-month observational study that examined the microprocesses of relapse following intentional weight loss using smartphone-administered EMA-was conducted. Participants were asked to complete four types of EMA surveys using a mobile app. For this analysis, only the number of completed random E ...[more]

PMID: 36849665

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Project description:BackgroundEcological momentary assessment (EMA) uses mobile technology to enable in situ self-report data collection on behaviors and states. In a typical EMA study, participants are prompted several times a day to answer sets of multiple-choice questions. Although the repeated nature of EMA reduces recall bias, it may induce participation burden. There is a need to explore complementary approaches to collecting in situ self-report data that are less burdensome yet provide comprehensive information on an individual's behaviors and states. A new approach, microinteraction EMA (μEMA), restricts EMA items to single, cognitively simple questions answered on a smartwatch with single-tap assessments using a quick, glanceable microinteraction. However, the viability of using μEMA to capture behaviors and states in a large-scale longitudinal study has not yet been demonstrated.ObjectiveThis paper describes the μEMA protocol currently used in the Temporal Influences on Movement & Exercise (TIME) Study conducted with young adults, the interface of the μEMA app used to gather self-report responses on a smartwatch, qualitative feedback from participants after a pilot study of the μEMA app, changes made to the main TIME Study μEMA protocol and app based on the pilot feedback, and preliminary μEMA results from a subset of active participants in the TIME Study.MethodsThe TIME Study involves data collection on behaviors and states from 246 individuals; measurements include passive sensing from a smartwatch and smartphone and intensive smartphone-based hourly EMA, with 4-day EMA bursts every 2 weeks. Every day, participants also answer a nightly EMA survey. On non-EMA burst days, participants answer μEMA questions on the smartwatch, assessing momentary states such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, and affect. At the end of the study, participants describe their experience with EMA and μEMA in a semistructured interview. A pilot study was used to test and refine the μEMA protocol before the main study.ResultsChanges made to the μEMA study protocol based on pilot feedback included adjusting the single-question selection method and smartwatch vibrotactile prompting. We also added sensor-triggered questions for physical activity and sedentary behavior. As of June 2021, a total of 81 participants had completed at least 6 months of data collection in the main study. For 662,397 μEMA questions delivered, the compliance rate was 67.6% (SD 24.4%) and the completion rate was 79% (SD 22.2%).ConclusionsThe TIME Study provides opportunities to explore a novel approach for collecting temporally dense intensive longitudinal self-report data in a sustainable manner. Data suggest that μEMA may be valuable for understanding behaviors and states at the individual level, thus possibly supporting future longitudinal interventions that require within-day, temporally dense self-report data as people go about their lives.

Project description:AimsEcological Momentary Assessment (EMA) captures real-time reports in subjects' natural environments. This experiment manipulated EMA frequency to estimate effects on abstinence and peri-cessation subjective experiences.DesignIn this randomized trial, subjects had an equal chance of being assigned to low-frequency (once) or high-frequency (six times) daily EMA for 4 weeks (1 week pre- and 3 weeks post-cessation). Participants completed six office visits over 5 weeks and 6- and 12-week follow-up telephone interviews.SettingCommunity participants were recruited from central New Jersey, USA.ParticipantsOne hundred and ten adult daily smokers seeking to quit smoking were included in intent-to-treat analyses of tobacco abstinence; 94 were available for secondary analyses of peri-cessation subjective ratings.MeasurementsPrimary outcomes were cessation (abstaining at least 24 hours within 2 weeks of attempting to quit) and prolonged abstinence (no relapse between weeks 2 and 12 post-quit). Secondary outcomes were mean levels and growth in ratings of cigarette craving, affect and quitting motivation and self-efficacy.FindingsEMA frequency was unrelated to cessation (odds ratio = 1.367, 95% confidence interval = 0.603-3.098) or prolonged abstinence (odds ratio = 1.040, 95% confidence interval = 0.453-2.388) in intent-to-treat analyses. High-frequency EMA was associated with lower craving (B = -0.544, standard error (SE) = 0.183, P = 0.004, anxiety (B = -0.424, SE = 0.170, P = 0.015), anger (B = -0.474, SE = 0.139, P = 0.001), hunger (B = -0.388, SE = 0.170, P = 0.025) and positive affect (B = -0.430, SE = 0.196, P = 0.03).ConclusionsIn smokers trying to quit, more frequent ecological momentary assessment self-monitoring results in lower craving, anxiety, anger, hunger and positive affect. It is not clear whether this translates into higher rates of smoking abstinence.

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Project description:Underrepresentation of historically marginalized populations in clinical trials continues to threaten the validity of health intervention research. Evidence supports the merits of intercept and other proactive forms of recruitment for achieving more equitable representation. However, researchers also report lower retention and adherence to protocols among these populations, particularly in longitudinal studies. Few studies have compared recruitment methods for longitudinal randomized trials testing health interventions, with even fewer having done so for trials involving ecological momentary assessment (EMA). As intervention research integrates EMA and other data collection approaches requiring substantial participant effort, it is critical to better understand the effectiveness and implications of strategies to improve the representativeness of health research. This secondary data analysis compared outcomes of proactive and reactive recruitment strategies (mobile lab intercepts and internet/flyer advertising, respectively) in study inclusion, task completion, and retention within a 14-day randomized controlled trial that used EMA to evaluate cigarette package health messages. Proactive recruitment resulted in higher proportions of participants with low income and education, limited health literacy, and of diverse racial/ethnic makeup. However, this recruitment method also resulted in lower task completion, especially in the second week of the trial period, and lower retention, although group differences were not explained by participant sociodemographic characteristics targeted by inclusion efforts. We conclude that proactive recruitment via intercepts is an effective strategy for health intervention research that aims to include stakeholders from historically marginalized groups but that researchers and funders must recognize these methods require additional resources, considerations, and capacity to address non-trivial challenges to successful participation.

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Dataset Information

Examining reactivity to intensive longitudinal ecological momentary assessment: 12-month prospective study.

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Level of evidence

Publications

Examining reactivity to intensive longitudinal ecological momentary assessment: 12-month prospective study.

Similar Datasets

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