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It's a function of time: A review of the process approach to behavioral medicine research

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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

In many fields of science, phenomena are studied closely over time to make inferences about patterns of behavior and to allow for predictions of future change and stability. In behavioral medicine, traditional cross-sectional and longitudinal designs are useful for capturing highly stable or slowly-changing phenomena, but important behavior change can be missed by one-occasion measures or infrequent measurements taken at widely-spaced points in time. We review recent research showing how a more complete understanding of many forms of psychological and somatic phenomena can be achieved through intensive measurement within the temporal context in which behavior occurs. This “process approach” to research, conducted in both naturalistic and laboratory settings, is presented here and placed in a methodological and theoretical framework. We also attempt to make recent research on the non-linear dynamics of behavior more accessible by describing and illustrating the uses of time in behavioral medicine research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, H3A 1B1, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Kirk W. Brown & D. S. Moskowitz

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  1. Kirk W. Brown
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  2. D. S. Moskowitz
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Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute of Canada with funds from the Canadian Cancer Society to the first author and by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide à la Récherche du Québec to the second author.

Comments by Irv Binik, Morton Mendelson, Dana Bovbjerg, and two anonymous reviewers resulted in substantial improvements to this article.

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Brown, K.W., Moskowitz, D.S. It's a function of time: A review of the process approach to behavioral medicine research. ann. behav. med. 20, 109–117 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02884457

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