Dimitra Kale
Dimitra Kale is a research co-ordinator at UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research group. She recently completed her PhD investigating individual differences, in particular trait impulsivity, in cigarette smoking and vaping, and the role of vaping in smoking cessation at Goldsmith, University of London. She is now involved in a number of studies focusing on the development and evaluation of digital interventions for smoking cessation, and the analysis of survey data to gain insight into population-wide influences on smoking and vaping. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, she contributes to a survey study to gain a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on health behaviours among UK adults.
Within- and between-person associations between psychological and contextual factors and alcohol consumption in EMA studies: A systematic review
Aims: To review ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies conducted in adult drinkers to synthesise study characteristics and within- and between-person associations between psychological and contextual factors and alcohol consumption.
Design: Electronic searches of OVID Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and Web of Science.
Results: 172 studies published between 1998 and 2021 were identified; 132 (76.7%) were conducted the last decade. Most studies were conducted in the US (146; 84.9%), and 78 (45.3%) were funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 118 studies (68.6%) focused on the number of drinks, 32 (18.6%) drinking events, 11 (6.4%) binge drinking and 11(6.4%) were coded as ‘other’ drinking behaviours. Most studies were conducted in student populations (92; 53.5%). The mean number of participants was 261 (range 10-1636), with a mean age of 25.1 years. Studies included an average of 53.5% females, with 75.8% identifying as White ethnicity. 163 (94.8%) studies used observational designs; 9 (5.2%) were interventional. Most studies delivered EMAs via a website/online (68; 39.5%) or a handheld device (41; 23.8%). The mean study duration was 36.2 days (range 2-738). 122 (70.9%) studies reported adherence to EMAs, with a mean of 82.3% (range 42.1%-100%). 169 (98.3%) relied on self-report instruments to capture psychological and contextual variables, with EMAs primarily delivered at fixed timings (90; 52.3%). Emotions, traits and feeling states was the most frequently assessed psychological construct (132; 76.7%), followed by social influence (61; 35.5%).
Conclusions: EMA studies investigating within- and between-person associations between psychological and contextual factors and alcohol consumption have increased in the last decade. Most studies were conducted in the US and relied on self-report measures and fixed EMA delivery timings. Few interventional studies were identified.