JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Family functioning is associated with several adolescent health outcomes, and many family-based interventions (FBIs) exist to improve family functioning. However, most FBIs assess family functioning retrospectively at baseline and post-intervention, for example, overlooking the daily fluctuations of family functioning throughout the intervention.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to assess an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol's feasibility and acceptability and to analyze within-person and between-person variance in family functioning reports in a sample of adolescents and their primary caregivers.

Methods:

We recruited 7 parents (100% female; Mage = 37.3 years) and 8 adolescents (87.5% female; Mage = 11.9) who identified as Hispanic/Latinx. Participants completed a baseline assessment (including demographics and family functioning assessment), a 7-day protocol with a once-daily 11-question family assessment using EMA app, and an acceptability questionnaire at the conclusion of the study.

Results:

Results indicated overall satisfaction with the EMA protocol acceptability. The daily assessments were relatively quickly completed after notification (M = 3 minutes and 16 seconds) and the response rate across daily assessments was 89.7%. Readability: Participant-reported family functioning showed minimal variance, both within and between individuals, although some heterogeneity was noted between adolescent and parent responses. The visual inspection of data underscored individualized patterns.

Conclusions:

The findings emphasize the value of EMA in studying family (e.g., adolescent-caregiver) behaviors. The method's ability to capture immediate experiences presents a nuanced picture of daily interactions, contributing to a deeper understanding of family dynamics, and offers the potential for developing tailored family-based interventions.