TitleBridging the Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to the Analysis of Clinical Data.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsBeltz, AM, Wright, AGC, Sprague, BN, Molenaar, PCM
JournalAssessment
Volume23
Issue4
Pagination447-458
Date Published2016 Aug
ISSN1552-3489
KeywordsAdult, Biological Variation, Population, Female, Humans, Individuality, Male, Mathematics, Models, Psychological, Personality Disorders, Statistics as Topic
Abstract

<p>The nomothetic approach (i.e., the study of interindividual variation) dominates analyses of clinical data, even though its assumption of homogeneity across people and time is often violated. The idiographic approach (i.e., the study of intraindividual variation) is best suited for analyses of heterogeneous clinical data, but its person-specific methods and results have been criticized as unwieldy. Group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) combines the assets of the nomothetic and idiographic approaches by creating person-specific maps that contain a group-level structure. The maps show how intensively measured variables predict and are predicted by each other at different time scales. In this article, GIMME is introduced conceptually and mathematically, and then applied to an empirical data set containing the negative affect, detachment, disinhibition, and hostility composite ratings from the daily diaries of 25 individuals with personality pathology. Results are discussed with the aim of elucidating GIMME's potential for clinical research and practice.</p>

DOI10.1177/1073191116648209
Alternate JournalAssessment
PubMed ID27165092
PubMed Central IDPMC5104664
Grant ListF32 MH097325 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
L30 MH101760 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
R01 MH080086 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States