Research meeting October 12th, 2015
The next iLab research meeting will be the 12th of October, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., in the Eriba building (3226.0314). We will discuss actigraphy and heart rate assessment, and ways to derive meaningful measures out of these data. Speakers will be Jan Houtveen, Harriëtte Riese and Thea Kooiman (Hanzehogeschool). The exact program will follow.
Research meeting March 2015
During the March iLab meeting, we discussed ways to personalize electronic diaries and diary reports for study participants of the NoFunNoGlory project and the GRIP-project. The NoFunNoGlory project aims to get more insight in anhedonia, and the Grip-project develops an eHealth system to improve the health of patients suffering from (functional) somatic symptoms. Most presentations can be found online on the iLab Google Drive. We would like to thank all speakers for their participation!
External website
Our external website is recently updated: www.ilab.local or www.Ilab-psychiatrie.nl. On this website you will find background information on the iLab, the idiographic method and the core tasks of the iLab. The website offers insight into the current iLab projects and publications. Also an overview of all newsletters, and past and upcoming research meetings is given.
iLab facilities
As a reminder, iLab interview rooms are available to all researchers of the UCP and ICPE. These rooms are located on the ground floor of the Psychiatry building (ingang 32). Also equipment and freezer space can be used free of charge by all researchers of the UCP and ICPE. If you want to lend Smartphones for your research, you are responsible for (payment of) phone costs (see also the recent update on this topic on the internal iLab website).
Please be aware that your study information (i.e. study sheet and METc protocol) should be uploaded on the internal Google Drive platform, before you can use the iLab facilities.
New study added to the internal Google Drive platform
| Study | The effect of Virtual Reality exposure Therapy (VRET) on social participation in people with a psychotic disorder: a multisite randomised controlled trial |
| Investigators | Chris Geraets, msc Drs. Roos Pot-Kolder (VU) Dr. Wim Veling Prof. Dr. Mark vd Gaag |
| Date | November 2014 onwards |
| Purpose | First, to investigate the effect of Virtual Reality exposure therapy on social participation. Second, to investigate the longitudinal course of symptoms and social behaviour in psychosis on group and individual level. |
| Participants | 100 patients with psychotic disorder |
Introduction to the iLab for new employees and students
In 2015, iLab introduction meetings will be held once every two months. During this meeting information will be provided about the goals of the iLab. Further, procedures to use equipment, rooms or freezer space will be explained. Dates of the upcoming meetings in 2015 are: 4 August and 6 October (1 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. in room K1.25, Triade building, entrance 24). The meetings are open to everyone. From the end of October Karin Janssens will be on pregnancy leave, and thus new meetings will start again in March 2016. In the meantime, employees or students who have questions about the iLab or need personal assistance with the use of its facilities can contact Gerda Bloem (g.m.bloem@umcg.nl) for help.
Grant awarded to Jojanneke Bastiaansen for ESM as a therapeutic tool for depression
With the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), patients gather a multitude of prospective in-the-moment daily life assessments on affect, behavior, and context. Because this systematic form of self-monitoring enables the generation of personalized feedback, ESM has great potential for clinical practice and the individual patient. The Gratama Foundation has awarded a grant of € 24.689 to Jojanneke Bastiaansen, postdoctoral researcher at the ICPE, for the development of two ESM modules for depression. These ESM modules tie in with important components of effective psychotherapies for depression. In the “Do”-module (in Dutch: “Doe”-module), self-monitoring and personalized feedback will be oriented on positive affect and activities. In the “Think”-module (“Denk”-module in Dutch), self-monitoring and personalized feedback will focus on negative affect and thinking patterns. This pilot project is specifically aimed at the development of these two modules; another grant proposal has been submitted to examine their effectiveness in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
This project is part of the ‘Frieslandlijn’, a research program focused on early interventions and timely preventive measures developed through a partnership between the University Center of Psychiatry of the UMCG and Friesland Mental Health Care Services (GGZ Friesland).
New iLab project of Karin Janssens: methodological issues in EMA studies
A new iLab project has been started to solve several methodological issues in EMA studies. The first focus will be on obtaining more insight into relevant fluctuation levels of somatic, psychological, and behavioral factors. This will be done by using several techniques, such as Fourier transformation and discrete wavelet transformation, to decompose univariate time series. Headed by Harriette Riese and Karin Janssens, also Elske Bos, Jan Houtveen, Judith Rosmalen, and Marieke Wichers take part in this workgroup.
News: Emerging trends in ecological assessment
Tamlin Conner and Mathias Mehl recently wrote an interesting article about the emerging trends in ecological assessment. Tamlin Conner is the new head of the Society for Ambulatory Assessment. The conference of this society will take place in Pennsylvania next week, and will be visited by several researchers from our department. A report of the meeting will be presented in the next newsletter (about Fall 2015).
New publication
• S.H. Booij, E.H. Bos, M.E.J. Bouwmans, M. van Faassen, I.P. Kema, A.J. Oldehinkel, P. de Jonge. Cortisol and α-amylase secretion patterns between and within depressed and non-depressed individuals (in press). PLoS ONE; a copy of the article can be obtained by contacting Sanne Booij (s.h.booij@umcg.nl)
Greetings!
Harriëtte Riese, Karin Janssens, Robert Schoevers, Gerda Bloem