Developing just in time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) to counter stress: Promises and pitfalls

Webinar 3: Developing just in time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) to counter stress: Promises and pitfalls

Tuesday September 26, 2023 - 10:00-11:00 CEST

Free event - registration required: here

Presenter: Andreas Schwerdtfeger

Content:

Unobtrusively identifying adverse psychosocial states in everyday life would offer intriguing possibilities to trigger just in time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) to restore wellbeing and health.

Meanwhile, algorithms have been developed to predict psychosocial states by means of cardiac data (so-called additional, non-metabolic heart rate variability reductions; AddHRVr).

In this webinar, I will briefly introduce the main idea behind this approach and present some data on validating algorithms.
In short, although simulation studies on the functioning of an AddHRVr algorithm to predict psychological states work well, probing such algorithms in real time-mode is challenging.
Thus, applying physiological algorithms in the field to trigger JITAIs for eHealth and mHealth interventions seems premature.

To conclude, the road to JITAIs by means of physiological triggers remains attractive, but it is hampered by several roadblocks and unresolved potholes. Possible solutions will be presented.

Bio

Andreas Schwerdtfeger is professor and head of the health psychology unit at the University of Graz, Austria.
He received his Diploma in 1996 at the University of Freiburg (Germany) and his Ph.D. at the University of Wuppertal (Germany).
He was assistant professor (Juniorprofessor) in health psychology at the University of Mainz (from 2003 to 2011) and professor in health psychology and applied diagnostics at the University of Wuppertal (2016-2017).
His research activities focus on cardiovascular psychophysiology, stress and emotion, psychosocial resources and resilience, and psychophysiological ecological momentary assessment.
He is associate editor of Anxiety, Stress, & Coping and European Journal of Health Psychology.