Ecological momentary assessment of emotional processing: An exploratory analysis comparing daily life and a psychotherapy analogue session

Background: Emotional processing has been studied in psychotherapy as a state-dependent, sequential process of change. So far, no studies have applied this conceptualisation of emotional processing to the assessments of emotion in daily life. This is particularly important in the light of the pertinence of day-by-day fluctuations of emotions for understanding mental health and for monitoring the impact of prevention and psychotherapy programmes. This study examined the internal and ecological validity of a state-dependent conceptualisation of emotional processing in daily life, in comparison with an experiential-psychodynamic psychotherapy analogue session.