Feasibility of Ecological Momentary Assessment of Negative Emotion in Girls With ADHD: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study explores the feasibility of using mobile phone ecological momentary assessment to evaluate negative emotion in adolescent girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A total of 13 girls with ADHD, ages 12–16 years old (38.5% with comorbid depression), and their mothers completed several daily surveys assessing the intensity and variability of youth negative emotion using mobile phone-based ecological momentary assessment for approximately one week. The rate of response to survey prompts by youth and maternal reports was examined. In addition, associations between girls’ and mothers’ ratings of negative emotion were calculated. Finally, the severity and fluctuation in negative emotion were compared between girls with and without depression. Girls and their mothers demonstrated a high level of compliance with assessment procedures, and maternal and youth ratings were significantly correlated. In addition, girls with comorbid depression and their mothers endorsed significantly more intense and variable negative emotion compared to girls with ADHD alone. These preliminary findings show that ecological momentary assessment is a feasible and valid method for collecting information on emotion regulation among girls with ADHD and their mothers that can be applied to future work aimed at collecting ecologically valid assessments of functioning in girls with ADHD.