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These authors contributed equally to this work.
Introduction
There is an expanding interest in research with a specific focus on the experience of psychopathology in the realm of daily life. Developments in several scientific disciplines have fuelled the need for a momentary, daily life approach. In epidemiology, focus is shifting from observations of the macro-environment to the more detailed study of the micro-environment (McGrath, 2007). In psychology, there is an increased awareness that psychological models of psychopathology are essentially dynamic over time, requiring multiple assessments (Bentall, 2003). Cognitive science has focused on experiences as being embodied and situated, providing a powerful rationale for investigating experiences in the context in which they are occurring (Robbins & Aydede, 2008). Finally, there is a growing need to ecologically validate experimental and laboratory findings (Koren et al. 2006). The study of persons in the context of normal daily life may provide a powerful and necessary addition to more conventional and cross-sectional research strategies in psychopathology (Table 1). The current paper provides a review of momentary assessment studies in psychopathology, with a focus on (1) phenomenology, (2) underlying mechanisms and aetiology, (3) dynamic psychological models, (4) biological mechanisms, (5) the application to treatment research and (6) gene-environment interactions.
Momentary assessment strategies
Momentary assessment strategies that are used most frequently are the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) (Delespaul, 1995; Hektner et al. 2007) and the Ecological Momentary Assessment (Stone & Shiffman, 1994; Shiffman et al. 2008) (both methods hereafter called the ESM). The ESM is a structured diary method in which subjects are asked in normal daily life to report their thoughts, feelings and symptoms, and also the context (e.g. location, company, activity) and the appraisal of the context. Both open-ended questions and self-report Likert scales have been used. The reports typically have to be filled out several times a day (Fig. 1) during several consecutive days, either at random unpredictable moments, signalled by a beeper or alternatively, triggered by an event of interest (e.g. when someone is in contact with other people). In the paper-and-pencil version, subjects carry a digital wristwatch and a set of questionnaires collated in a booklet for each day. More recently, software packages have been developed for running these...