This project is focusing on the merging of intraindividual variability (IIV) methods and network methods and applying this fusion method on intensive longitudinal studies. We used a two-stage approach to accomplish this. The first stage is to construct a high-dimensional person-specific network structure using IIV method and the second stage is to use network methods to examine the characteristic and measure change of this person-specific network. So far, we have found empirical evidence that impact of major life events (e.g. divorce, illness, etc) is associated with density of a psychological network which is based on 13 emotion and interpersonal behavior constructs.
Further advance of this line of work includes network inferences based on Boolean rules and using network control as a tool for prevention/intervention. With proliferation of self-tracking devices and apps, we expect the increasing availability of individual-level multivariate time-series data will be ideal candidates to deploy this fusion method to uncover the interdependence within a complex developmental system.