Feasibility and utility of idiographic models in the clinic: A pilot study

Introduction:Idiographic, or individual-level, methodology has been touted for its potential clinical utility. Empirically modeling relationships between symptoms for a single individual may offer both the client and therapist information that is useful for case conceptualization and treatment planning. However, few studies have investigated the feasibility and utility of integrating idiographic models in a clinical setting. Methods:Clients (n = 12) completed ecological momentary assessment regarding psychological symptoms five times per day for three weeks. Clients also generated predictions about the associative and directed relationships in their networks. Graphical vector autoregression was used to generate contemporaneous and directed networks from each client's data, and both clients and therapists completed self-report questionnaires regarding the feasibility and utility of these methods. Results:Results indicated that the idiographic model structures varied widely across participants and differed markedly from the client's own predictions. Clients found the models useful, whereas their therapists demonstrated a more tempered response. Discussion:These results echo previous findings suggesting that clients are willing to complete intensive data collection and are interested in the output, whereas therapists may be less open to idiographic methods. We provide recommendations for future implementation of personalized models in clinical settings.