Project
Developing a gold standard for the real-time assessment of affective stress recovery, social interaction, and suicidal and non-suicidal self-injurious thoughts and behaviours
The goal of this project is to develop a gold standard for the real-time assessment of three transdiagnostic processes involved in mental illness: affective stress recovery, social interaction, and suicidal and non-suicidal self-injurious thoughts and behaviours (SITBs). The success of JITAIs that target transdiagnostic processes in daily life depends on the ability to reliably and validly measure those processes and identify at-risk moments. The validity of ESM findings depends on the use of adequate measures (items). However, a large variety of ESM items with unknown psychometric properties are currently being used, which have not undergone any formal evaluation. The CCP is at the forefront of addressing these ESM measurement issues, with award-winning initiatives such as the ESM Item Repository (https://esmitemrepositoryinfo.com/). To address these measurement barriers to developing JITAIs, we will build on the ongoing methodological and meta-science work in the CCP to develop and psychometrically validate gold standard ESM items to assess the three transdiagnostic processes, using novel qualitative and quantitative techniques.
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The PhD candidate is expected to complete a PhD-study within a period of 4 years. The responsibilities of the PhD candidate in this study will be:
Applying quantitative methods to analyze ESM data including time series analysis, and multilevel modelling techniques.- Developing open-source software and collaborating in the development of the ESM Item Repository (https://esmitemrepositoryinfo.com/), an award-winning open science initiative to increase transparency and replicability in ESM research
- Apply qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the validity and psychometric properties of ESM items.
- Writing papers for publication in international peer-reviewed journals
- Closely collaborating with researchers in the research lines on ESM methodology, statistics, and meta-science, Social interaction in psychopathology, and Non-suicidal and suicidal self-injurious thoughts and behaviours.
Profile
- A masters degree in Psychology, Statistics, Behavioural Sciences, or a related discipline, with a strong interest in the experience sampling method and or measurement/psychometrics
- Strong statistical skills (using R), especially with mixed-effects models and time series analysis
- A strong interest in open science
- Good analytic and writing abilities
- Good command of English (written and oral)
Offer
Motivated candidates of all nationalities, who have the ability and desire to work in an interdisciplinary and international research environment with a strong commitment to research on experience sampling and measurement, are invited to apply.
The study will lead to a PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences from KU Leuven. As a PhD student, you will have every opportunity to develop yourself further in your professional career, by studying literature, attending seminars and workshops, participating in international conferences, and interacting with leading researchers from multiple disciplines. In addition, you will become part of (and contribute to) a network of academic and non-academic partners in the field of quantitative methods in behavioral sciences, ambulatory assessment, and open science.
In addition to a competitive salary, KU Leuven offers a number of additional advantages, such as the possibility of flexible working, hospitalization insurance, eco-vouchers, reimbursement for commuting by public transport, inexpensive meals, a KU Leuven bicycle, etc.
Interested?
