TY - JOUR
T1 - A slice of life
T2 - Ecologically valid methods for research on social relationships and health across the life span
AU - Smyth, Joshua M.
AU - Juth, Vanessa
AU - Ma, Jun
AU - Sliwinski, Martin
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science of Behavior Change Common Fund Program through awards administered by the National Institutes of Aging (UH2AG052167) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (UH2HL132368).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - This paper describes “slice of life” methods—detailed observations of moment-to-moment intraindividual processes that occur over short timescales in the natural environment—as an important research tool in exploring social relationships and health across the life span. Such methods, including ecological momentary assessment, experience sampling, daily diaries, measurement burst, and other slice of life designs, are important supplements to more traditional laboratory, epidemiological, and long-term longitudinal research methods. Specifically, we highlight how slice of life methods (with a focus on ecological momentary assessment) allow researchers to compare the relative importance of different social relationships (or features thereof) for health outcomes, understand temporal dynamics, identify potentially causal mechanistic pathways at different timescales through which social relationships influence health, and design, implement, and evaluate innovative interventions that target these pathways at different timescales. We conclude with recommendations and future directions for slice of life methods for research on social relationships and health across the life span.
AB - This paper describes “slice of life” methods—detailed observations of moment-to-moment intraindividual processes that occur over short timescales in the natural environment—as an important research tool in exploring social relationships and health across the life span. Such methods, including ecological momentary assessment, experience sampling, daily diaries, measurement burst, and other slice of life designs, are important supplements to more traditional laboratory, epidemiological, and long-term longitudinal research methods. Specifically, we highlight how slice of life methods (with a focus on ecological momentary assessment) allow researchers to compare the relative importance of different social relationships (or features thereof) for health outcomes, understand temporal dynamics, identify potentially causal mechanistic pathways at different timescales through which social relationships influence health, and design, implement, and evaluate innovative interventions that target these pathways at different timescales. We conclude with recommendations and future directions for slice of life methods for research on social relationships and health across the life span.
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U2 - 10.1111/spc3.12356
DO - 10.1111/spc3.12356
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85030625324
SN - 1751-9004
VL - 11
JO - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
JF - Social and Personality Psychology Compass
IS - 10
M1 - e12356
ER -