Fragmentation as a novel measure of stability in normalized trajectories of mood and attention measured by ecological momentary assessment

Psychological Assessment
Jordan JohnsVadim Zipunnikov

Abstract

Electronic diary data, such as that acquired through Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA), has historically provided novel insights into diverse psychological processes. Analyses of these data typically focus on modeling participant-specific means, variability, and stability. We propose a novel statistical framework to determine participant stability by quantifying fragmentation of standardized trajectories using the following 2-step approach: (1) participant-level EMA scores are normalized, and (2) normalized scores are dichotomized into 2 states, inside and outside a range of 1 standard deviation. Within-participant fragmentation measures were calculated from dichotomized scores and modeled with various covariates. We used this method to study patterns of emotional states and showed that the proposed fragmentation measures differentiate mood disorder subtypes, including Bipolar I (BPI), Bipolar II, and major depressive disorder (MDD) compared with unaffected controls. Fragmentation measures were regressed on the mood disorder subtype, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and mean squared successive difference. The analyses revealed decreased stability (more fragmentation) among those with BPI when inside the participant...Continue Reading

Citations

Mar 25, 2021·Nicotine & Tobacco Research : Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco·Anne BuuMegan E Piper

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