Robert Gregory, MD

Aiden Wright PhD

Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Michigan

Ambulatory assessment (e.g., ecological momentary assessment, experience sampling methodology, daily diaries, passive sensing) is an increasingly popular technique for studying personality pathology because data are collected in the context of participants’ real life (e.g., real-life stressors, their actual romantic partner, on site at their job), near in time to when events are occurring, thereby increasing greater fidelity to actual events, and at various points along a process, allowing for modeling dynamic or fluctuating thoughts, feelings, behavior, physiology, and context. Despite the popularity of ambulatory assessment techniques, they remain challenging to implement well due to the complexity of study design. This half-day course is designed to provide the basics of good ambulatory assessment study design and implementation. Topics covered include: Developing time-based questions, sampling types (e.g., random, fixed, event-contingent), sampling frequency, questionnaire design, participant engagement, incentive schedules, data quality monitoring, and common challenges. Examples will be drawn from personality disorder research and psychopathology more broadly. It is taught by Aidan Wright, one of the world’s leading experts in ambulatory assessment and personality pathology.