Optimizing intensive longitudinal designs for clinical psychology research and assessment

Intensive longitudinal designs are being used with increased frequency in clinical psychology research and assessment, due to their ability to assess within-person, dynamic processes in naturalistic contexts in near real time. However, the complexity inherent in these designs means there is a need for more empirical data to guide decision making for specific research or clinical practice applications. As such, this special issue presents 15 studies (published across two associated journal issues) with innovative findings and methods that can guide clinical psychology researchers and practitioners as they design, conduct, interpret, and analyze intensive longitudinal designs. The articles cover topics including considerations for power/sample size planning and predicting attrition; practices for optimal sampling designs and methods; insights from participants' experiences in intensive longitudinal design studies; and poststudy procedures regarding assessment of data quality, psychometrics, and conducting analyses. Each study is briefly reviewed, and implications for clinical research and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).