Multilevel and multimodal biobehavioral methods in the study of stress, trauma, and resilience: a systems approach

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of methodological and technological advances in stress, trauma, and resilience research. We present an approach to studying the structural transmission of stress, trauma, and resilience across multiple socio-ecological systems. Specifically, we highlight methodologies that are: (1) Multilevel in capturing the compounding of traumas and stressors across multiple socio-ecological systems over time, (2) multimodal in integrating data from different sources and across different settings, and (3) biobehavioral in assessing how stress, trauma, and resilience affect biology and behavior. We identify opportunities for expanding settings where stress, trauma, and resilience research is conducted. Next, we review promising methodological and technological approaches for multisystem measurement, assessment, and analysis. We explore considerations for developing new self-report measures, employing ecological methods (e.g., ecological momentary assessment, wearable devices, social interactions), leveraging biomarkers, and using qualitative methods. Finally, we discuss ways to advance our measurement and methodologies through collaboration, implementation, and future research.