Assessing changes associated in well-being after a psychological intervention for people with paranoid tendencies: An ESM application in clinical practice

During the last decades, Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) has been widely used in the field of psychopathology research to increase our understanding of the processes involved. This self-report daily assessment technique might be a satisfactory tool in the context of clinical trials assessing the effect of psychological interventions, however the empirical literature on the application of ESM assessing changes associated with clinical interventions is still scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of ESM in assessing changes in wellbeing after a multi-component Positive Psychology Intervention for people with paranoid tendencies. 73 individuals receiving individual psychotherapy at a University Clinic, and that had high scores in paranoid thinking, were offered group intervention to improve their well-being. The pre-post evaluation entailed an ESM protocol with a time-contingent design that included ten randomized time assessments per day during one week before and after the group intervention. A total of 54 participants completed the ESM procedure and the intervention and were thus, included in the analysis. Our findings provide evidence of the feasibility and viability of using ESM when conducting clinical trials. In particular, the ESM identified significant effects of the treatment in positive variables such as well-being, self-esteem, positive affect, and feeling close to others in daily life. ESM seems a promising methodology that is able to accurately monitor the momentary changes in clinical trial outcomes.