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The Diary of Ambulatory
Behavioral States (DABS)
The DABS is a
computer-assisted self-report diary designed for repeated real-time
assessment of daily experiences relevant to cardiovascular activity and
health risk. Multi-item scales assess mood, activity, and social
interactions, as well as the postural, metabolic (e.g., physical
activity, eating, temperature) and substance use factors (e.g., recent
smoking, caffeine, alcohol) that have been shown to be associated with
blood pressure in the natural environment. Five primary dimensions of
psychosocial demand or stress are assessed with this diary:
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Social Conflict
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Task Demand
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Decisional Control
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Negative Affect
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Arousal
These dimensions were
assessed because they have been shown to be associated with alterations
in cardiovascular activity in the laboratory. Additional scales on the
diary were designed to assess Instrumental and Emotional Social Support,
Agreeable Interactions, and Intimacy. These dimensions were assessed
because of the evidence linking social support with reduced disease
risk.
The original version of
the DABS was published in the Kamarck et al. chapter in the volume
edited by Krantz and Baum (1998 cited below). We have since revised or
dropped a number of the diary items that were shown to be less
successful or understandable. The revised version of the diary text can
be accessed by clicking
here. Please note that each question is
associated with a contextual stem (for example, “Activity past 10
minutes”) that reminds the reader of the prompt screen they have just
recently been presented. Please note also that responses to most of the
questions are collected using a visual analogue slider scale. Anchor
points for many of the questions are “NO” and “YES.” The numbering
system underneath each of the responses (1-11) is for scoring purposes
only; participants do not actually see these numbers.
DABS Findings:
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Fluctuations
in each of the five dimensions of psychosocial stress during
daily life are associated with reliable changes in blood
pressure and heart rate. For example, during periods of the day
that are rated as higher in Task Demand, blood pressure and
heart rate are higher than during those periods that are
assigned lower Task Demand ratings. |
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Kamarck, T.W., Janicki,
D.L., Shiffman, S., Polk, D.E., Muldoon, M.F., Liebenauer, L.L. &
Schwartz, J.E. (2002). Psychosocial demands and ambulatory blood
pressure: A field assessment approach. Physiology and Behavior,
77, 699-704.
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Kamarck, T.W., Schwartz,
J., Shiffman, S., Muldoon, M.F., Sutton-Tyrrell, K. & Janicki, D. (in
press). Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular risk: What is the role of
daily experience? Journal of Personality.
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Individuals
who rate their daily lives as more demanding, on average, tend
to show greater carotid artery intima-medial wall thickness,
suggestive of more extensive atherosclerosis. |
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Kamarck, T.W., Muldoon,
M.F., Shiffman, S., Sutton-Tyrrell, K., Gwaltney, C. & Janicki, D.L.
(2004). Experiences of Demand and Control in daily life as correlates of
subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in a healthy older sample. Health
Psychology, 23, 24-32.
Abstract
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Instrumentation
Several considerations
have led us to adopt an electronic diary (using Palm pilot or other
handheld computer devices) rather than a paper-pencil format in our
work, including the fact that such assessments provide an automatic
“time stamp,” allowing us to verify the timing of each assessment (For
more information on this aspect of our work see Kamarck et al. chapter
in Stone, Atienza, & Nebeling volume). For assistance with
software, we have worked with Invivodata, inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) which
specializes in electronic diary methods for research. They provided us
with a Cadillac version software platform that included a number of
user-friendly features. More recently, we have also had success with
products by PumaTech (now Intellisync) that
allow us to customize electronic diary design with a lower-end budget.
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