Exploring Critical Moments for Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions in Bipolar Disorder
Method Stream: Qualitative Research
ECs Only 14 EC (standard, no new/own data collection. Applicable in case of a clinical internship)
Description:
Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition characterized by strong fluctuations in mood. Current treatments primarily focus on managing acute episodes, while mood instability in daily life and outside of acute episodes remains a prominent and impairing symptom for many individuals with bipolar disorder. Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) may help individuals with bipolar disorder strengthen emotion regulation skills and enhance mood stability during interepisodic periods. JITAIs are interventions delivered via mobile devices that provide timely and personalized support in daily life. They aim to deliver support during so-called moments of vulnerability (i.e., periods when individuals may be at increased risk for mood deterioration), or moments of opportunity (i.e., moments In which individuals may be susceptible for symptom improvement (Nahum-Shani et al., 2016).
To better understand in which situations individuals with bipolar disorder might benefit from support through JITAIs, qualitative interviews were conducted with both therapists and individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The aim of these interviews was to identify critical moments in daily life during which support through a JITAI could be particularly helpful.
In this thesis project, you will analyze qualitative data from these interviews, which have already been conducted. The project will involve translating and cleaning interview transcripts and conducting a thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data that may inform the development of JITAIs by identifying critical intervention moments.
The insights generated in this thesis will directly contribute to the development of a JITAI that will later be evaluated in individuals with bipolar disorder. As such, this project contributes to a socially relevant research effort aimed at improving daily-life support for people living with bipolar disorder.
The overall aim of this project is broad: to explore critical moments for intervention through just-in-time adaptive interventions in bipolar disorder.
Reference
Nahum-Shani, I., Smith, S. N., Spring, B. J., Collins, L. M., Witkiewitz, K., Tewari, A., & Murphy, S. A. (2016). Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) in mobile health: key components and design principles for ongoing health behavior support. Annals of behavioral medicine, 1-17.
Who are we looking for?
Dutch language skills are important because part of the project will be to translate the transcripts.