Batool Ali, Megan Church, and Katherine Worthman, “Tracking Moods and Psychosocial Dimensions of Favored Leisure Activities: Pilot Testing using Ecological Momentary Assessment”
Mentor: Marcellus Merritt, Psychology
Poster #173
Recent research highlights that engagement in leisure (i.e., self-selected, self-enriching behavioral pursuits like searching social media or golfing that occur during non-work intervals) is beneficial for mental and physical health. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA, i.e. tapping activity in real time in the natural environment) in our pilot research, there are 2 goals for our students: They will establish which daily activities may be favored leisure activities by interpreting their specific psychosocial features or dimensions. They will also create a participant friendly environment by denoting relevant concerns and summarizing the most interesting momentary relationships between leisure and moods. For 10 straight days, pilot participants (N=8) will use Qualtrics surveys to complete electronic diaries every four hours at each of four time points, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. At each measurement, participants will indicate if they were engaging in leisure and report on their current moods (e.g., sleepy, activated, stressed), cognitions, and social interactions. If a leisure activity is reported, then the participant will make subjective ratings of that activity based on 15 dimensions (e.g., mental absorption, relaxation, distraction, challenge, difficulty, rejuvenation, guilt, and social support). Then, in a short debriefing interview, participants will offer their thoughts about the protocol. In analyzing potential data, there are multiple aims: We will be able to identify issues related to subject compliance like load, distractions, and personal constraints. We can directly assess participant interpretation of the leisure dimension items and evaluate which leisure dimensions have a suitable range of scores; and are associated with shifts in daily moods and cognitions. Ultimately, we want to tap the presence of leisure activity in an EMA context, and account for related leisure dimensions over time and social context. Then, we plan to systematically test how relevant leisure dimensions impact daily mental and physical health.