WCBCT 2019 Poster Awards
With nearly 1000 posters on display over the course of the Congress, the poster presentations represented the largest body of clinical and research work presented. Poster presenters came from across the globe and from a range of backgrounds, including clinicians and both early-career and well-established senior researchers. Posters ranged from clinical case presentations to results of large-scale international research studies, and there was a huge amount of exceptionally high quality work on display. Three poster awards were given by the WCBCT Scientific Committee (one overall winner and two runner-up awards), with the winners announced at the closing ceremony. Evaluations of the posters were informed via: 1) numerical ratings of quality made during the initial blind-review process of evaluating posters submissions for possible acceptance at the Congress, and 2) the poster itself at the Congress, with a focus on individuals at relatively early stages in their career. All winners received a certificate, and in addition the overall winner receives complimentary registration to the 50th European Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies congress, to be held in Athens, September 2nd-5th, 2020.
Poster award overall winner:
Panajiota Rasanen, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Title:
What kind of online coach support is helpful in reducing psychological distress in a blended Acceptance and Commitment therapy intervention? Results from an RCT study for university students that employed Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) text analysis.
Author list:
Panajiota Rasanen, Riku Nyrhinen, Asko Tolvanen & Raimo Lappalainen, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Abstract:
Introduction
Internet-delivered cognitive and behavioral interventions have been shown to be effective in enhancing well-being and reducing symptoms of stress and depression. Internet interventions have the potential to improve mental health service delivery in universities. Web-based interventions can be easily disseminated to an entire student body, can be cost-effective, easily accessible, time-saving for counselors, while also allowing participants to work independently at their own pace. However, there is still limited research examining the active components that may contribute to the effectiveness of Internet interventions. One substantial component, particularly in guided interventions, is the counseling feedback given to clients. Little is known as to what kind of feedback would be effective and useful in treatment outcomes and participants’ adherence. The present study aimed at exploring the role of providing online written feedback from coaches on clients’ outcomes.
Method
ACT trained psychology students offered support as coaches (N=48; 87,5% female, M=26 years) to university students (N = 123; 83,7% female, M=25 years), who were randomly assigned to two groups that both received 3 face-to-face sessions and an online 5-module ACT-based program. The sole difference between the groups was the form of the feedback given, dividing the groups to one (iACTa, N=62) with personalized, individually-tailored written feedback and the other group (iACTb, N=61) with semi-structured written feedback, and minimal personalization options. Participants’ texts from the program’s weekly homework assignments as well as coaches’ feedback were analyzed with artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Results
The results showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups except for the primary outcome of well-being favoring the semi-structured group. Participants in both groups had significant gains in psychological well-being, psychological flexibility, and mindfulness skills. Perceived stress and symptoms of depression were significantly reduced.
A.I. results indicated that semi-automated feedback with short, personalized and versatile wording input from novice coaches was associated with better treatment outcomes for stress. A.I. results also indicated that personalized feedback may be more critical for depression outcomes. The length of the coaches’ feedback did not have an effect on treatment outcomes.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the first study that examined the role of written online support of ACT-based internet interventions by employing text analysis through artificial intelligence. Overall, a blended intervention with face-to-face counseling and semi-automated features could have numerous potential applications in counseling settings. Future research could examine the applicability of such blended interventions in different settings and possibly compare also other forms of automated features.
About the presenter:
Panajiota Räsänen is a Project Researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Her work focuses on developing, implementing, and delivering innovative well-being & life skills interventions that integrate technology (web/mobile-based) and guided counseling support to help address a range of psychological and behavioral challenges. Räsänen’s research primarily focuses on the area of brief, blended Acceptance and Commitment Therapy interventions for university students to enhance their wellbeing and alleviate depression, anxiety, and stress. So far, she has been training and supervising over a 190 psychology master’s level students to work as well-being coaches in delivering an acceptance and mindfulness-based intervention called ‘The Student Compass‘. The program is a permanent service of the university and part of a wider cluster of innovative wellbeing support offered to undergraduate students at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Poster award – Runner up
Teresa Bolzenkötter, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Title:
Online vs. Real-Life. A Network Approach to Social Interaction and Mood: Results of the BeMIND Study
Author list:
Teresa Bolzenkötter, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany (formerly TU Dresden, German)
John Venz, Katja Beesdo-Baum and Lars Pieper, TU Dresden, Germany
Abstract:
Introduction
Technological developments in recent years have created new ways of communication that have become a vital part of many people’s lives. Especially among the youth, online communication via WhatsApp or Facebook is now part of daily routine. But while interactions taking place in real-life have consistently been related to increased well-being, we are far from understanding how the ubiquity of online communication is related to how we feel and behave. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to investigate the interplay between mood and social interactions taking place in real-life and online.
Method
The analysis was part of the Behavior and Mind Health (BeMIND) study on the development of psychopathology in adolescents and young adults from Dresden (Germany). As part of the Baseline assessment, N =1062 participants aged 14-21 completed a four-day Ecological Momentary Assessment study. They provided information about their current mood as well as about how much time they had spent on real-life and online social interactions, respectively. Data were explored by the means of a network analysis.
Results
Results indicated that real-life interactions were not only more strongly but partly also differently associated with mood than online interactions. Importantly, while real-life interaction was related to how content and satisfied participants felt, online interaction was not related to these variables. Furthermore, how much time participants spent on online communication was positively associated to how much time they spent interacting in real-life.
Discussion
The findings suggest that online interactions should be no substitute for encounters taking place in real-life. Instead, online interactions might be beneficial when integrated as additional channel to communicate with friends and family and when using it to arrange face-to-face encounters in the future. Thereby, online interaction may enrich social lives and be positively related to well-being.
About the presenter:
Teresa Bolzenkötter is a research associate at the department of clinical psychology and psychotherapy, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Her current work investigates the effects of an online cognitive training on emotion and emotion regulation – assessed by experience sampling – in people suffering from depression. Moreover, she is interested in experience sampling interventions
Poster award – Runner up
Johanna Berwanger, TU Dresden, Germany
Title:
Associations of Emotion Regulation Skills and Psychopathology in Adolescents from the General Population – Results from the BeMIND-Study
Author list:
Johanna Berwanger, John Venz, Catharina Voss, Theresa Ollmann, Jana Hoyer, Lars Pieper, Katja Beesdo-Baum, TU Dresden, Germany
Abstract:
Introduction
Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) have been linked to a variety of mental disorders and are discussed as a potential transdiagnostic factor. We assessed the relationship between ER-skills in a broad range of mental disorders compared to healthy individuals in adolescents and young adults from the general population.
Method
Data from the Behavior and Mind Health (BeMIND) study was used. BeMIND is an epidemiological study on the development of psychopathology in a random sample of 14-21 year olds, drawn from the population registry in Dresden (Germany). ER-skills were measured via an online-questionnaire (ERSQ). Mental disorders in the last 12 months were assessed face-to-face via a standardized clinical interview (DIA-X/M-CIDI). N=1033 participants (♀= 59.25%) provided data on both mental disorders and ER-skills.
Results
Adolescents who met criteria for any anxiety, depressive, somatic or adjustment disorders (incl. PTSD) or substance-use related disorders in the last 12 months revealed diminished overall ER-skills compared to healthy participants (p<.05). Analysis for specific ER-skills indicated that deficits varied between disorders.
Discussion
These results support the notion of overall ER as a transdiagnostic factor for a variety of mental disorders. At the same time findings suggest that a lack of specific skills is relevant to specific disorders.
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About the presenter:
Johanna Berwanger is a research assistant at the department of Behavioral Epidemiology, TU Dresden, Germany. Her work focuses on the influence of emotion regulation and coping on the development of psychological problems and disorders in adolescence.
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