Smartphone-based safety planning and self-monitoring for suicidal patients: Rationale and Study protocol of the CASPAR (Continuous Assessment for Suicide Prevention and Research) Study

Chani Nuij, MSc’s study presents the rationale and protocol of the Continuous Assessment for Suicide Prevention and Research (CASPAR) study. The research team’s goals of the study are two-fold: to evaluate the feasibility of mobile safety planning and daily mobile self monitoring in routine care treatment for suicidal patients, and to conduct fundamental research on suicidal processes. Clinical guidelines recommend …

Ambulatory Digital Phenotyping of Blunted Affect and Alogia using Objective Facial and Vocal Analysis: Proof of Concept

Synopsis Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia – including blunted affect and alogia – are poorly understood yet amongst the most debilitating to patients. They are traditionally assessed with questionnaire measures or clinician ratings both of which are subject to bias and limited to whenever the patient comes into a clinic. There is a need for measures that are objective and more …

Negative urgency impulsivity predicts receptive syringe sharing following reported anxious mood

Dr. Mary Mackesy-Amiti’s investigates the commonality between borderline personality disorder (BPD) with people who inject drugs (PWID), and its association with receptive syringe sharing. Dr. Mackesy-Amiti’s study utilized ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine associations between emotion dysregulation, a characteristic of BPD, as well as patterns of negative affect and receptive syringe sharing among PWID. Participants used the mEMA phone …

New Insights into Schizophrenia from the Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at University of Georgia and the mEMA System.

Gregory Strauss, Ph.D | University of Georgia | Reliable and valid scales for assessment of the negative symptoms of Schizophrenia are available. However, they have certain issues that affect their validity, such as recall biases, halo effects, and issues of social desirability as they are usually completed with the clinician. Dr. Strauss’s group wanted to know if digital phenotyping methods could be complementary to the existing scales.

Negative affect and emotion dysregulation among young people who inject drugs: An ecological momentary assessment

Dr. Mary E. Mackesy-Amiti’s study utilized ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to measure negative affect in people who inject drugs (PWID), and her study examined associations with borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms and hardships with emotion regulation, in the context of injection drug use.  Participants used mEMA phone application to report on mood, substance use, and injection behavior for two weeks. …

Feasibility Study of Problem-Solving Training for Care Partners of Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Burn Injury, or Stroke During the Inpatient Hospital Stay

Dr. Shannon B. Juengst’s study using Ecological Momentary Assessment was designed to determine the feasibility of delivering an evidence based self management intervention, problem-solving training (PST), to care partners of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SPI), burn injury, or stroke during the inpatient hospital stay. PST is a metacognitive self-management intervention that teaches individuals a global strategy …

An examination of diurnal variations in neuropathic pain and affect, on exercise and non-exercise days, in adults with spinal cord injury

Dr. Kathleen Martin Ginis’ study utilizes ecological momentary assessment to measure the intra-individual diurnal variations in neuropathic pain and affect on exercise and non-exercise days in a community setting. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how neuropathic pain and affect change from pre to post-exercise, and over time. Using the mEMA System, participants with spinal cord injuries …