Clinical interviews and questionnaires
Semi-structured clinical interviews and questionnaires are used to assess psychopathology, functional impairments and other constructs of interest in a standardized way to guarantee the highest reliability.
Ambulantory assessments
We utilize ambulatory assessments, including Smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), passive sensing, electrocardiagraphy (ECG), and actigraphy, to assess psychological and physiological constructs as they occur in real time in the context of daily life. This approach ensures high ecological validity of the data, and allows the examination of both between and within variability of psychiatric symptoms and psychological or physiological mechanisms maintaining them.
Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI)
EMI refers to the delivery of interventions to people in the context of their daily life. Based on the measurement of symptoms using EMA, EMI can be individually tailored to the participants’ responses. EMI bridges the gap between the clinical setting and the real world and gives the opportunity to examine whether changes in putative psychological mechanisms ultimately result in changes in the symptoms they are supposed to be causing. EMI using smartphones provide an opportunity for low-threshold and time- and place-unlimited support that can take the form of self-help programs or add-ons to conventional treatments.
Clinical trials
Clinical trials are prospective studies aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of new interventions. In our research, we conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which participants are randomly assigned once to either an intervention or a control group. In addition, we utilize micro-randomized trials (MRTs), where each participant undergoes multiple randomizations over time. This design allows us to rigorously evaluate individual components of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) and understand their effects in real-world, dynamic contexts.
Participatory and mixed methods research
In our research we work closely with both people with lived experiences / consumers and providers of mental health services to gain profound insights into their needs, preferences, and perspectives in the context of developing, evaluating, implementing, and disseminating evidence-based treatments. This emphasis holds particular significance in the realm of digital interventions, where challenges like low adoption rates and inadequate alignment with user requirements are prevalent. To accomplish this, we employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
