Table 3. Characteristics of the main methodological aspects of EMA.
| Reference | Study duration (d) | Day period | Prompts per day | EMA named | EMA instruments | EMA sensors | Topics evaluated in addition to PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggio et al. (2017) | 7 | Each evening | Each 24 h | No | OSS | Acc | PS, OV |
| Basen-Engquist et al. (2013) | 5 | Morning and evening | Each 12 h | Yes | PDA | Acc | BMI, BPA, OV |
| Biddle et al. (2009c) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | GA, ISD, OV |
| Biddle, Gorely & Marshall (2009) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | GA |
| Biddle et al. (2009b) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | EB, SLP |
| Biddle et al. (2009a) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | GA |
| Bohnert et al. (2013) | 14 | During all day | Ran (8 × d) | No, ESM | P&P | Acc | BMI, EB, GA, SC |
| Bond et al. (2013) | 6 | At evening | Each 24 h | Yes | PDA | No | BPA, EB, ISD, OV |
| Bonham, Pepper & Nettle (2018) | 42 | During all day | Ran (1 a × d) | No, NS | mHealth | Gps | PS, OV |
| Bossmann et al. (2013) | 7 | During all day | 1 h | No, AA | mHealth | Acc | PS |
| Brannon et al. (2016) | 20 | Morning and evening | Depending on participants | Yes | mHealth | Acc, HR CH-B | EB, ISD, PS, SLP, SC, OV |
| Burg et al. (2017) | 365 | During all day | 3 a × d | Yes | mHealth | Acc | ISD, PS, SC |
| Cabrita et al. (2017) | 38 | All day | 1 h | No, ES | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, EC, GA, SC |
| Conroy et al. (2013) | 14 | Evening | 24 h | Yes | OSS | Acc | EB, GA, SLP, SC |
| Dunton et al. (2011) | 4 | Afternoon and evening (Fri/Mon) | Ran (20 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, EC, GA, ISD, PS, SC, OV |
| Dunton et al. (2012a) | 8 | Afternoon and evening (Fri/Mon) | Ran (20 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, EC, GA, ISD, OV |
| Dunton et al. (2012b) | 8 | Afternoon and evening (Fri/Mon) | Ran (20 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, EC, GA, ISD, SC, OV |
| Dunton et al. (2012c) | 4 | All day (Sat/Tu) | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD, OV |
| Dunton et al. (2014a) | 8 | Afternoon and evening (Fri/Mon) | Ran (20 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD, PS |
| Dunton et al. (2015) | 12 | All day (Sat/Tu) | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, EC, ISD, GA, PS, SC, OV |
| Dunton, Dzubur & Intille (2016) | 14 | All day | Ran (3 or 7 a × d) | No, CS-EMA | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, SC, OV |
| Elavsky, Kishida & Mogle (2016) | 15 | All day | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | PDA | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD, PS |
| Emerson, Dunsiger & Williams (2018) | 62 | Individual Schedule | 24 h | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, ISD, PS |
| Fanning et al. (2016) | 7 | All day | 16 hourly prompts (1 h) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | ISD, LEP, PS |
| Fortier et al. (2015) | 14 | At evening | 24 h | No, DDM/ES | P&P | No | ISD, PS, SLP |
| Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Skouteris & Mccabe (2013) | 7 | All day | Ran (6 a × d) | No, ESM | PDA | No | BMI, OV |
| Fortier et al. (2015) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | EC, GA, ISD, SC |
| Gorely et al. (2009b) | 4 | All day | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | EC, GA, ISD, SC |
| Hager et al. (2017) | 8 | All day | Ran (max 8 a × d) | Yes | PDA | Acc | EC, ISD, GA, OV, SC, SLP, |
| Hausenblas et al. (2008) | 6 | During all day | Ran (3 a × d) | Yes | P&P | No | PS |
| Heininga et al. (2017) | 30 | During all day | Ran (3 a × d) | No, ESM | mHealth | No | ISD, SC |
| Hekler et al. (2012) | 56 | Afternoon and evening | 2 a × d | Yes | PDA | No | BPA, EC, ISD, PS, OV, SC |
| Hyde et al. (2011) | 7 | Evening | 24 h | No | P&P | No | GA, PS, SLP |
| Jones et al. (2017) | 4 | Not Informed | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD, OV, PS |
| Kanning, Ebner-Priemer & Schlicht (2015) | 3 | Not Informed | Accelerometer was active | No, AA | mHealth | Acc | ISD, PS |
| Kanning & Schoebi (2016) | 1 | All day | 45 min | No, AA | PDA | Acc | PS |
| Kanning & Hansen (2017) | 3 | All day | 40–100 min | No, AA | mHealth | Acc | BMI, ISD, OV, PS, SC |
| Kim et al. (2014) | 37 | During all day | Semi Ran (4 × d) | Yes | PDA | Acc | PS |
| Knell et al. (2017) | 7 | Morning | 24 h | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD |
| LePage et al. (2012) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Study 1 | 10 | During all day | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, EB, OV, PS |
| Study 2 | 7 | Evening | 24 h | Yes | PDA | No | EB, OV, PS |
| LePage & Crowther (2010) | 10 | During all day | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, PS, OV |
| Liao et al. (2014) | 4 | Morning and afternoon | Ran (3 week, 7 weekend) | Yes | mHealth | No | BMI, GA, ISD, SC |
| Liao, Intille & Dunton (2015) | 4 | Pre-programed intervals | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, EC, GA, ISD, OV, SC |
| Liao et al. (2017a) | 4 | Not informed | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, ISD, OV, PS |
| Liao et al. (2014) | 12 | All day | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | ISD, OV, PS |
| Liao, Intille & Dunton (2015) | 4 | All day | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, ISD, OV, PS |
| Maher et al. (2014) | 14 | Evening | 24 h | Yes | P&P | Acc | BMI, OV |
| Maher et al. (2016) | 12 | All day | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, BPA, ISD, OV |
| Marquet et al. (2017) | 7 | During all day | 3 a × d | Yes | mHealth | Acc | EC, ISD, OV, SC |
| Marquet, Alberico & Hipp (2018) | 7 | During all day | 3 a × d | Yes | mHealth | Acc | EC, ISD, OV, SC |
| Mata et al. (2012) | 7 | All day | Ran (8 a × d) | No | PDA | No | OV, PS |
| Marquet et al. (2017) | 7 | All day | Ran (7 a × d) | No, ESM | P&P | Acc | EC, GA, ISD, PS, SC |
| Marquet, Alberico & Hipp (2018) | 7 | Not informed | Ran (7 a × d) | No, ESM | P&P | Acc | EC, SC |
| Nadell et al. (2015) | 7 | Not informed | Ran (5–7 a × d) | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, ISD, OV PS |
| O’Connor et al. (2017) | 8 | During all day | Ran (week 3/4, weekend 7/8) | Yes | mHealth | No | BMI, EB, ISD, OV |
| Pickering et al. (2016) | 4 | All day | Ran (8 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | Acc | BMI, BPA, EC, ISD, OV |
| Rouse & Biddle (2010) | 2 | Not informed | 15 min | Yes | P&P | No | GA, ISD |
| Rusby et al. (2014) | 28 | During all day | Ran (3–6 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | GA, ISD, PS, SC |
| Sala et al. (2017) | 7 | Personalized for participants | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | EB, OV, PS |
| Salvy et al. (2008) | 7 | All day | 2 h | No, ESM | PDA | No | BMI, SC |
| Schöndube, Kanning & Fuchs (2016) | 20 | During all day | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | ISD, PS |
| Schöndube et al. (2017) | 20 | During all day | Ran (4 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | ISD, OV |
| Seto et al. (2014) | 7 | Not informed | Each meal | Yes | mHealth | GPS, Acc | EB, EC, PS |
| Seto et al. (2016) | 14 | Not informed | Ran (5 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | GPS, Acc | BMI, EB, EC, ISD, PS, OV, SC, SLP |
| Snippe et al. (2016) | 12 | All day | Semi Ran (10 a × d) | No, ESM | mHealth | No | GA, ISD, PS, SC |
| Soos et al. (2012) | 4 | All day | 15 min (the end of day) | Yes | P&P | No | EC, GA, ISD, SC |
| Soos et al. (2014) | 3 | All day | 15 min (the end of day) | Yes | P&P | No | EC, GA, ISD, SC |
| Spook et al. (2013) | 7 | During all day | Ran (5 a × d) | Yes | mHealth | No | BPA, EC, GA, OV, PS, SC |
| Sternfeld et al. (2012) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pilot | 12 | During all day | 3 a × d | No | mHealth, P&P | No | BMI, GA, ISD |
| Validation | 14 | During all day | 3 a × d | No | mHealth | Acc | BMI, GA, ISD |
| Thomas et al. (2011) | 6 | All day | Semi Ran (6 a × d) | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, EB, GA, ISD, |
| Timmerman et al. (2015) | 5 | During all day | 3 (13:00, 17:00, 20:00) | No, AA | mHealth | Acc | BMI, ISD, OV |
| Von Haaren et al. (2013) | 2 | During all day | 2 h a little bit Ran | No, AA | PDA | Acc | BMI, PS |
| Wichers et al. (2015) | 5 | All day | Semi Ran (10 a × d) | No, ESM | P&P | No | GA, ISD, PS, OV |
| Williams et al. (2016) | 42 | All day | 12 × d | Yes | PDA | No | BMI, ISD, PS |
Note:
Study duration column: d: days. Day period column: Sat: Saturday, Tu: Tuesday, Mo: Monday, Fri: Friday. Prompts per day column: h: hours, m: minutes, a × d: assessment per day, Ran: Random. EMA named column: ESM: Experienced Sampling Method, NS: Naturalistic Study, AA: Ambulatory Assessment, ES: Experience Sampling, CS-EMA: Context-Sensitive EMA, DDM/ES: Daily Diary Method or Experience Sampling. EMA instruments and sensors columns: mHealth (includes: Smartphone; iPod, Video Recording; Automatized call survey; SMS), PDA: Personal Digital Assistant or similar apparatus like watch-type computer, OSS: Online Survey System, P&P, Paper and Pencil; ACC, Accelerometers; GPS, Global Positioning System; HRCH-B, Heart rate Chest Band. Topic column, BMI, Body Mass Index, ISD: Income and Socio Demographics; GA, General Activity (included: sedentary behavior, time with the smartphone, time reading, eating, active traveling), PS: Psychological State, BPA: Barriers to Physical Activity, SLP: Sleep, EB: Eating Behavior, SC: Social Context, EC: Environmental Context, OV: Other Variables (included: self-efficacy, type of country, arousal, acceptability, safety, traffic, use of smartphone during exercise, toddler with mother, waist circumference, autonomic, competencies, vegetation, cultural variables and body perceptions, amount of garbage, energy and fatigue).