Beyond snapshots: A systematic review of dyadic and triadic parent-adolescent ecological momentary assessment studies across diverse and general populations.

The last decade has seen a surge in studies using Ecological Momentary Assessment(EMA), where participants complete brief daily questionnaires to capture real-timeexperiences. While widely used to study adolescents' social–emotional processes,EMA that simultaneously assesses adolescents and their parents (i.e., dyadic andtriadic designs) remains underutilized, particularly within diverse families. This gapis surprising given the proven value of dyadic EMA in studying adult relationshipsand its potential to elucidate contextualized family dynamics. This systematic reviewsynthesized and critically evaluated existing EMA research in parent–adolescentdyads and triads (i.e., an adolescent and both parents) published between 2014 and2024, examining methodological and analytical practices as well as representation ofdiverse populations (i.e., racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities, lower-SES, non-traditional family structures and clinical populations). Following a systematic search ofelectronic databases, we identified 85 publications originating from 44 distinct datasetsthat conducted EMA in parent–adolescent dyads or triads. Substantial variability wasobserved across studies in the number of daily assessments, EMA days and data-wavescollected. Utilization of the multilevel and dyadic features of the data also varied: mostpapers fully utilized the temporal aspect (e.g., examining within-family processes),while the dyadic/triadic aspect was only partially utilized (e.g., most studies examinedunidirectional effects, typically parent-to-child). Regarding populations studied, whilemost focused on White, non-Hispanic, highly educated samples, some targeted onlyminority groups (e.g., Chinese-American). However, whether within-family processesdiffer between populations was rarely examined. Across dyadic (vs. triadic) studies,fathers were underrepresented, and gender identity and sexual orientation were almostnever assessed, likely masking the exclusion of gender and sexual minorities. Parent–adolescent dyadic and triadic EMA appears feasible and could provide unique insightsinto family dynamics in typical and diverse populations. Gaps in the literature andsuggestions for advancing inclusion and diversity are discussed