Abstract
Tomko et al. develop a Momentary Impulsivity Scale for electronic diary sampling — capturing both between- and within-person impulsivity as it occurs in daily life, not only on retrospective questionnaires.
Tomko, R. L., Solhan, M. B., Carpenter, R. W., & Brown, W. C. (2014). Psychological Assessment, 26(2), 339–349. DOI
Key findings
- Intraindividual variability — Traditional impulsivity measures neglect how impulsivity fluctuates within the same person across contexts and days.
- EMA advantage — Repeated momentary ratings (up to six times per day) capture impulsivity where it happens — not only trait summaries.
- Clinical discrimination — Momentary scores distinguish borderline personality disorder from depressive disorder samples and correlate with trait impulsivity scales.
Application
When you log trigger · action · cost once per day, you are building the same within-person signal EMA studies use — pattern before diagnosis.