Interdisciplinary collaboration strengthens ambulatory assessment research: Challenges and lessons learned from substance use and addictions researchers

Ambulatory assessment (AA) researchers are routinely faced with challenging decisions regarding construct measurement, protocol design (e.g., number of constructs to assess, timescale), varying assessment modalities (e.g., integration of self-report with passive data), modeling decisions (e.g., missing data, nonstationarity), and navigating implementation practices for AA methods (e.g., participant burden, reactivity). These challenges are particularly relevant to the subfield of substance use and addictions (SUA) research. The multifactorial, dynamic nature of substance use, heterogeneity within addiction-related processes, and discrete transitions among instances of substance use complicate construct measurement, protocol design, and resulting analyses. While such issues are not limited to SUA research, we believe the experiences from researchers in these subfields serve as a fruitful example to facilitate an interdisciplinary discussion broadly relevant to SAA participants, including methods researchers, applied researchers with interests in SUA, and researchers from other AA areas. Panel members will reflect on the relevance of SUA related data for addressing unanswered topics and questions central to AA methods. Examples include the use of multimodal or integrated data streams to measure substance-related experiences, the challenges of modeling patterns of change (e.g., withdrawal patterns, treatment-related experiences), and the use of innovative theoretical and analytic frameworks (e.g., Bayesian methods, multiverse analyses) to increase robustness and generalizability of AA research. We invite researchers from all disciplines to join in a lively discussion around the nuances of SUA research as a case example for creating generalizable ideas to further AA research.

May 25, 2024