Background: Paper I [literature review] Anger is reported to be an important factor in suicidality yet there is no review in this area of research. Paper II [research study] Anger and suicidality are found in exaggerated levels in the prisoner population and their association required investigation using a novel and ecologically valid methodology. Aims: Paper I [literature review] To review studies which have investigated the relationship between anger and suicidality. Paper II [research study] To examine the relationship between anger and suicicidality in a sample of male prisoners. Paper III [critical review and appraisal] To critically review and appraise Papers I and II as well as the research processes involved. Methods: Paper I systematically reviewed 48 studies of anger and suicidality over a 20-year period. Paper II conducted an ecological momentary assessment study using multi-level modelling analysis to investigate anger and suicidality in a sample of adult male prisoners. Results: Paper I found preliminary evidence for a relationship between anger and suicidality which identified that the area required more empirically rigorous investigation, particularly using novel, ecologically valid methodology. In a sample of adult male prisoners, Paper II demonstrated that anger was temporally associated with suicidal ideation and related concepts. Anger was concurrently associated with suicidal ideation, when controlling for depression and hopelessness. Conclusions: Paper I indicated the potential relationship between anger and suicidality in clinical and non-clinical populations. Paper II revealed strong evidence of an association between concurrent anger and suicidality in adult male prisoners using ecologically valid assessment methods. Paper III examined the relevance of Papers I and II, in their independent additions to the empirical literature as to the relation between anger and suicidality.

The current study examined 236 undergraduate students in a week long twice-per-day ecological momentary assessment exploring the influence of baseline reward sensitivity and interactions between circadian variables (i.e., total sleep time, sleep quality) and daily measures of reward. Though primary study findings did not support reward sensitivity related moderation of sleep-reward pathways, a number of notable findings emerged. We found evidence of specific domains of reward sensitivity (anticipatory reward and reward responsiveness) which are uniquely related to daily experiences of reward. In addition, bidirectional circadian-reward pathways were found between sleep quality and daily rewards which suggests pathways towards reward-related engagement. Evidence also supported interactions between sleep quality and total sleep time on experience of daily reward, further highlighting the complexity of sleep-reward pathways and their relevance to mood symptoms.

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Objective: The purpose of the following study was to test the feasibility of using an ecological momentary assessment strategy during participation in water exercise. This assessment strategy was used to collect ratings of pain intensity level, affective status and self-efficacy for engaging in regular exercise prior to, during and following participation in water exercise for women with chronic pain. Design: Participants (N=15) completed six measures assessing physical activity level and reactions to physical activity and exercise participation and participated in elicitation interviews focused on their experiences with chronic pain and physical activity and exercise. Participants reported daily pain intensity levels, affect and self-efficacy each morning by phone and used cellular phones to report momentary ratings immediately following participation in water exercise for 6 weeks. Results: Participant profiles were developed to display patterns of pain intensity, affect and self-efficacy over the course of 6 weeks. Profiles indicated a variety of levels of exercise consistency in participants. Pain intensity, affect and self-efficacy varied over the course of an exercise event and revealed varied patterns across participants. Overall, momentary self-efficacy (M¹= 7.98, SD=1.65; M²= 8.29, SD=1.62; M³=8.45, SD=1.45) and affect mean ratings (M¹= 2.05, SD=1.42; M²= 2.76, SD=1.22; M³=3.02, SD=1.06) increased over the course of the exercise events while pain levels decreased from pre-exercise levels (M¹= 2.67, SD=2.30; M²= 1.85, SD=1.86; M³=1.95, SD=2.05). Elicitation interviews indicated themes related to the importance of enjoyment of exercise, social factors, and impact on pain level and overall physical condition. Final interviews provided information about the reactions of participants to the assessment strategy and offered insight into the acceptance of this approach for future studies of exercise behaviors. Conclusion: Overall, this approach to ecological momentary assessment of variables associated with exercise was acceptable to participants and revealed variable patterns of pain intensity, self-efficacy and affective state in relation to water-exercise engagement. / Ph. D.

Background: Within one year after the end of treatment the relapse occur in 20-80% of clients. In case of methamphetamine results indicate that after six months appear relapse in 36% of clients and from 7 to 19 months after cessation of treatment relapse occur in rest of 15% of them. These situations include the occurrence of craving by clients in therapy and after undergoing of therapy too. Craving during abstinence from 20 to 120 weeks indicate 60- 70% of abstinence clients. In recent years become useful method for data collection - a method of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). This method collects data from clients in real time in their natural environment via smartphones. Aim: The aim of this work is to investigate the possibilities and limits of application of the method (EMA) with the help of smartphones in terms of residential treatment for clients addicted to methamphetamine. Sample: 12 patients in mid-term hospital treatment which use smartphone with EMA application focused on craving. Methods: Semi-structured interview with patients, other patients and staff about smartphones/EMA application and how influence the treatment. Results: Most of patients, co-patients and staff didn't have problem with the presence of smartphones in the residential treatment. Functioning in the treatment...

This doctoral dissertation examine the specific role of the self-concept and of its different dimensions on the evolution of anorexic symptoms over a period of 140 consecutive days. in two different samples comprising 26 anorexic outpatients and inpatients and in 23 girls without eating disorders (ED). By applying an idiographic approach, the main results show that the level, instability and dynamic of self-concept dimensions, and more precisely of body attractiveness, represent potent predictors of psychological, behavioral (e.g. full score of Eating Disorders Inventory-Adolescent, EDI-A-24) and somatic (e.g. Body Mass Index, BMI) anorexic symptoms over medium (i.e. over a few months), short (i.e. over a few weeks) and very short (i.e. over a few days) periods of time. Moreover, multivariate regression analyses further show that the pattern of association between anorexic symptoms and self concept dimensions remains the same in both samples (anorexic and without ED). Moreover, the results of cross-correlations analyses reveal that anorexic symptoms are as unstable as the dimensions of self-concept, with which they appear to be intertwined. More precisely, body attractiveness, most often a) precedes the drive for thinness, b) is associated to bulimia according to a"vicious circle" phenomenon, and c) fluctuates with according to body dissatisfaction. However body attractiveness was not found to relate to anorexic girls final status at the end of the follow-up period (e.g. deterioration, improvement, stabilization, etc). Finally, the results from a qualitative analysis suggest that social events experienced as positive contribute to the improvement of anorexia nervosa.This appears to be explained by the potential of these events to break through anorectic girls known ego-centered tendencies. Taken as a whole, the 'results highlight the necessity of considering overall of dimensions of self-esteem and the"profiles" of girls with and without ED in preventive and therapeutic interventions for ED.

This article reviews the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) as an ambulatory ecological momentary assessment tool for the real-world observation of daily behavior. Technically, the EAR is an audio recorder that intermittently records snippets of ambient sounds while participants go about their lives. Conceptually, it is a naturalistic observation method that yields an acoustic log of a person’s day as it unfolds. The power of the EAR lies in unobtrusively collecting authentic real-life observational data. In preserving a high degree of naturalism at the level of the raw recordings, it resembles ethnographic methods; through its sampling and coding, it enables larger empirical studies. This article provides an overview of the EAR method; reviews its validity, utility, and limitations; and discusses it in the context of current developments in ambulatory assessment, specifically the emerging field of mobile sensing.

Purging Disorder (PD) is characterized by purging after normal or small amounts of food among individuals who are not underweight. Several studies indicate that PD is associated with distress and impairment, underscoring the need for intervention. However, little is known about factors that trigger and maintain purging in PD. This study examined antecedents and consequences of purging using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), a design that involved repeated assessments of current psychological states in participants' natural environments. Women with PD (N = 24) were recruited from the community to make multiple daily ratings of affect, shape/weight concerns, violation of dietary rules, and stomach discomfort using random-, interval-, and event-contingent recordings over a two-week period. Multilevel model analyses were used to examine between-day differences (purge versus non-purge day) and within-day changes in psychological variables relative to purging behavior. Results supported study hypotheses that negative affect and shape/weight concerns would be higher and positive affect would be lower on days when participants purged compared to days they did not purge. In addition, antecedent analyses supported within-day increases in negative affect, shape/weight concerns, and stomach discomfort prior to purging; however, only changes in positive affect and shape/weight concerns on purge days differed from naturally-occurring changes observed on non-purge days. For consequence analyses, negative affect, shape/weight concerns, and stomach discomfort decreased following purging on purge days, and trajectories of change were significantly different from non-purge days. Finally, exploratory analyses suggested that lower levels of impulsivity enhanced associations between antecedent affect and purging. These data are crucial to understand why women with PD purge after consuming normal or small amounts of food and may point to specific targets for the development of effective interventions.

Ecological momentary assessment provides a unique way of studying quality of life factors of colorectal cancer patients. It has yet to be used to study the behavioral expression of distress or depression by colorectal cancer patients. The current study utilized the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) technology to capture the daily activities and conversations of forty-eight adults with colorectal cancer. The study had two purposes: 1) to test the feasibility of the EAR with colorectal cancer patients; 2) to examine separate (self-report and behavioral) indicators of physical functioning, coping, and social support for their relationship to depression. Study participants wore the EAR, a portable digital recorder, for two consecutive days as the EAR recorded 30 seconds every 12.5 minutes. The EAR digital data were transcribed and analyzed for behavioral and linguistic indicators of physical functioning, coping, and social support. The acoustic data were analyzed using the standardized coding system Social Environment Coding of Sound Inventory (SECSI) and the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2007) computer program. The results provided preliminary evidence that the EAR operated as a feasible and non-disruptive tool for gathering naturalistic data about colorectal patients’ lives. The EAR data revealed information about both the colorectal patients’ internal emotional world as well as their external world which was characterized by solitary acts of daily living. Study subjects were more likely to accept and receive tangible support from others than directly discuss their cancer with others. Analysis of language found that personal disclosure to others was associated with coping through emotional support while causation words (e.g., because, effect, hence) were significantly related with self-report cognitive scales. Furthermore, the study found that first-person singular pronouns were associated not only with depression, but with appraisal of social support. Lastly, a predictive model was tested to see whether self-reported tangible and emotional support and behavioral coding of emotional support each contributed uniquely to the prediction of depression. Only self-reported tangible support was found to significantly predict depression. / text

One way for students with disabilities to receive instructional support from someone other than the lead classroom teacher is through paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals who are not trained properly, however, can negatively impact student success rates. One intervention that has been explored has been the use of video modeling to train staff on various instructional and behavior management strategies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using video training to teach paraprofessionals how to implement errorless learning strategies with students. The participants within this study were three female paraprofessionals that were of Caucasian, Latino, and Ukranian descent and had worked in a classroom for at least one year. The dependent variables within this study were evaluated by use of a single subject, multiple baseline design across participants. Results of this study revealed that video training with a focus on errorless learning was effective in increasing paraprofessional percent correct implementation of the strategy, as indicated by an increase in exhibition of the strategy throughout observation and generalization sessions. Paraprofessional implementation of errorless learning procedures increased from a mean of 12.5% accuracy during baseline to 84% accuracy during intervention sessions. Generalization probes maintained high accuracy rates as well, with a mean of 88% accuracy across all three participants. The social validity results provided to the participants at the end of the study indicated that all participants prefer video training over in person training.