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Newsletter May 2016

iLab study: Sampling scheme for diary studies

The first round of the Delphi study to obtain more insight into choices for particular sampling schemes for diary studies has been completed. Forty-seven researchers from eleven countries provided us with valuable and detailed information. The results have been presented during the iLab meeting of 18 April. This presentation can be found on the ilab Google Drive platform. Currently the second assessment round is running. We will keep you updated about the results.

Guideline on diary design
We are currently busy developing a guideline about diary design in cooperation with Lian van der Krieke, Inge ten Vaarwerk and Erwin Veermans. The guideline will contain information derived from the above-mentioned Delphi study on choices for study duration, measurement frequency, delay allowed to respond to the beep, random or fixed assessment, momentary or retrospective assessment, and the number of items. Further, practical information about diary design within Roqua, such as use of answering scales, and procedures within Roqua, will be included. The guideline will be published on the iLab website. If you are developing a new diary study, you are highly encouraged to read this guideline.

Ilab research Meeting 18 April

Apart from the results of the Delphi study during the last iLab meeting, Mara Bouwmans and Evelien Snippe presented about advanced techniques they learned in Penn State University (USA) to analyse diary data.

Mara Bouwmans visited prof. Molenaar at the Human Development and Family Studies department of the Pennsylvania State University. For her dissertation she wanted to use group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) to examine the complex interplay between positive affect, negative effect, fatigue and melatonin. GIMME is a new statistical technique for estimating patterns of relations (temporal dynamics) among time-series variables at the group- and individual-level simultaneously. With GIMME it is possible to derive reliable group and individual structures even when the data are highly heterogeneous across individuals.

Evelien Snippe visited prof. Dziak and prof. Lanza at the of the Methodology Center of the Penn State University. During her visit she learned Time Varying Effect Modelling (TVEM) to examine the effects of mindfulness training on the association between stress and negative effect. TVEM is a nonparametric regression technique that can test whether the relationship between two variables changes over time, and whether this change is linear or non-linear.

We want to thank Mara and Evelien for their contribution. All presentation can be found on the iLab Google Drive. The next iLab research meeting will be the 10th of October 2016 from 3 pm to 5 pm. Program details will follow soon. We are already happy to announce that Fionneke Bos will present the first results of the focus group on diary studies in clinical practice (see below).

Focus group on diary studies in clinical practice (in Dutch)

“Uitnodiging: Focusgroep dagboekmetingen in de klinische praktijk

Binnen mijn promotietraject doe ik onderzoek naar de vraag hoe dagboekmetingen het beste in de klinische praktijk ingezet kunnen worden. We willen graag met behandelaren in gesprek gaan over de inzet van dagboekmetingen in de klinische praktijk. Daarom willen we psychologen, psychiaters, psychiatrisch verpleegkundigen, AIOS en ANIOS van harte uitnodigen om deel te nemen aan onze focusgroep. Tijdens deze bijeenkomst zullen we brainstormen over mogelijke toepassingen van dagboekmetingen in de klinische praktijk aan de hand van concrete casussen. Iedere behandelaar kan deelnemen aan de focusgroep; ook als je nog niet bekend bent met dagboekmetingen.

Wanneer: donderdag 7 juli 16:00-17:30 en dinsdag 12 juli 15:30-17:00.
Locatie: UMCG

Graag hoor ik als je hieraan wil deelnemen (f.m.bos01@umcg.nl). Mocht je niet willen/kunnen deelnemen aan de focusgroep maar wel graag willen meedenken, dan is het ook mogelijk om hier met mij persoonlijk over in gesprek te gaan. Stuur ook dan even een mail.

Alvast hartelijk dank!

Met vriendelijke groet,

Fionneke Bos”

AutoVarCore

Autovar is a statistical package to automatically perform vector autoregressive (VAR) analyses, developed by among others Ando Emerencia and Elske Bos. Please read the following research papers and this website for more information on Autovar. Recently, Ando developed a new version of Autovar called AutovarCore. AutovarCore is computationally more efficient than Autovar and specifically developed for certain kind of VAR models; Autovar is more general but more inefficient. Instructions on how to use Autovar and AutoVarCore in the statistical package R can be find in the help files of these packages. An overview on the differences between Autovar and AutovarCore can be found on the iLab Google Drive platform. There you can also find an R-script in which Elske describes how to get started with Autovar and AutovarCore in R.

Introduction to the iLab for new employees and students

During the iLab introduction meeting, information will be provided about the goals of the iLab and the use of the internal Google Drive Platform. Further, procedures to lend equipment, or make use of test rooms or freezer storage will be explained. As a reminder, iLab test rooms are available to all researchers of the UCP and ICPE. These rooms are located on the ground floor of the Psychiatry building (entrance 32). Also equipment (e.g. mini iPads and blood pressure measurement devices) and freezer storage can be used free of charge by all researchers of the UCP and ICPE. Please be aware that your study information (i.e. a study sheet, diary questionnaire, and your METc protocol) should be uploaded on the internal Google Drive platform, before you can use the iLab facilities.

The new iLab introduction meetings are: 6 July and 9 September 2016.

New publications:

  • Booij SH, Bos EH, de Jonge P, Oldehinkel AJ. The temporal dynamics of cortisol and affective states in depressed and non-depressed individuals.
  • Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016;69:16-25. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.03.012.
    Stavrakakis N, Booij SH, Roest AM, de Jonge P, Oldehinkel AJ, Bos EH. Temporal dynamics of physical activity and affect in depressed and nondepressed individuals. Health Psychol. 2015; 34 Suppl:1268-77. doi: 10.1037/hea0000303.
  •  Simons CJ, Hartmann JA, Kramer I, Menne-Lothmann C, Höhn P, van Bemmel AL, Myin-Germeys I, Delespaul P, van Os J, Wichers M. Effects of momentary self-monitoring on empowerment in a randomized controlled trial in patients with depression. Eur Psychiatry. 2015; 30: 900-906. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.09.004.
  •  Toonen RB, Wardenaar KJ, van Ockenburg SL, Bos EH, de Jonge P. Using State Space Methods to Reveal Dynamical Associations Between Cortisol and Depression. Nonlinear Dynamics Psychol Life Sci. 2016; 20:1-21.
  • van Roekel E, Ha T, Verhagen M, Kuntsche E, Scholte RH, Engels RC. Social stress in early adolescents’ daily lives: Associations with affect and loneliness. J Adolesc. 2015; 45:274-83. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.10.012.
  • van Roekel E, Bennik EC, Bastiaansen JA, Verhagen M, Ormel J, Engels RC, Oldehinkel AJ. Depressive Symptoms and the Experience of Pleasure in Daily Life: An Exploration of Associations in Early and Late Adolescence (in press). J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2015
     

NB I The link to the internal Google Drive platform only works after you have logged into the platform with your @rgoc.nl account