Abstract
Naim et al. use ecological momentary assessment to measure positive and negative emotional lability in youth — labile mood correlates with global impairment and differs across diagnostic groups.
Naim, R., Shaughnessy, S., Smith, A. R., et al. (2022). Depression and Anxiety, 39(12), 870–880. DOI
Key findings
- EMA lability — Real-time prompts capture rapid positive and negative affect fluctuations missed by retrospective reports.
- Transdiagnostic signal — Both positive and negative lability associate with functional impairment across pediatric diagnoses.
- DMDD elevation — Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder youth show the highest labile-mood levels in the sample.
Application
When you log an emotional spike after the fact, you are approximating what EMA captures in the moment — post-mortem first, then shorten the lag.