The Ambulatory Assessment in Research and Individual Case Analysis in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

The current article introduces a method of data collection that is of particular importance for research and individual case analysis of the experience and behavior of patients with mental disorders. Numerous questions cannot be adequately answered by conventional methods. In particular, the validity of diagnoses and the testing of hypotheses about the functional relationship of disturbed behavior with antecedent or concomitant internal and external conditions cannot be fully examined with traditional tools. In recent decades, psychology has strongly favored the use of the questionnaire (or interviews) in many domains, which, although economical in time, is considered an inappropriate data collection instrument for many types of questions. This is especially true when the aim is to investigate how people are actually feeling, thinking, and behaving at specific points in time in everyday life. For this purpose, Ambulatory Assessment (AA) was developed. The article briefly describes the method, its history, and the conditions under which it is particularly useful or necessary in the field of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. It also offers insight into AA research in the field of psychiatry and clinical psychology with regard to different types of research questions. Finally, limitations, challenges and opportunities in using ambulatory assessment are discussed.