Current Projects:
ACT (Action Changes Things): The Inner Prison – Pilot Study to Reduce Rumination and Internal Entrapment
Cooperation project with Dr. Lena Spangenberg, University of Leipzig.
Funded by the program of the Rectorate of the University of Duisburg-Essen for the promotion of excellent young scientists (PI: Prof. Dr. Inken Höller)
Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (PI: Prof. Dr. Inken Höller) for the establishment of international collaborations with Harvard University (Nock Lab)
Internal and external entrapment (the feeling of being trapped with no way out) has been widely studied in relation to depression as well as suicidality (Taylor et al., 2011). However, more recent research has emphasized the importance of internal entrapment, which can result from so-called rumination (Höller et al., 2022). Ruminations, as a form of perseverative thinking, have already been understood to transcend depression and suicidality as a transdiagnostic cognitive pathomechanism and therefore also promote the development and maintenance of other mental disorders. This makes the treatment of rumination all the more important. Empirical studies have been able to demonstrate the principle efficacy of behavioral therapy methods for reducing rumination (Watkins, 2018), but 74% of people with major depression do not receive guideline-based treatment (Melchior et al., 2014), and even when they do, patients are left on their own between regular sessions. Moreover, it has already been shown that the expression of depressive symptoms can change over the shortest periods of time (Schoevers et al., 2021). Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) offers a relatively high-frequency and ecologically valid possibility to capture symptoms in the patient’s everyday life and also offers possibilities to „react“ to the symptoms in the sense of a personalized psychotherapy.
Therefore, the aim of this research project is to investigate EMA-based interventions based on effective elements of established psychotherapeutic techniques for the reduction of rumination in a phase II clinical trial.
SYMNET – Networks of depressive and suicidal symptoms before and after cognitive behavioral therapy.
Cooperation project with Prof. Dr. Thomas Forkmann and Dr. Dajana Rath, University of Duisburg-Essen.
Funded by the program of the Rectorate of the University of Duisburg-Essen for the promotion of excellent young scientists (PI: Dr. Dajana Rath, Deputy PI: Prof. Dr. Inken Höller).
Twenty-eight percent of the German population suffers from a mental disorder (Jacobi et al., 2014, 2016), and more than half of them receive support in the context of outpatient psychotherapy. Recent studies have been able to show that symptoms of mental illness are subject to temporal fluctuations on the one hand, and on the other hand, they stand in complex, transdiagnostic and dynamic contexts and are to be understood as symptom networks (Hallensleben et al., 2019; Rath et al., 2019). A high temporal resolution of these symptom networks is obtained by collecting symptoms via smartphone – also called ecological momentary assessments (EMA). So far, it has not been investigated to what extent such highly temporally resolved symptom networks change in the context of successful outpatient psychotherapy and whether parameters of these symptom networks before the start of psychotherapy can predict a successful psychotherapy course.
The aim of this project is to investigate EMA data-based networks of depressive symptoms over time. Such findings are not only important for understanding the course and influence of depressive symptoms, but also have potential practical implications for psychotherapeutic care.
YSPN – Youth Suicide Prevention Network
Funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (PI: Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Kaurin, University of Wuppertal).
Members of the network: Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Kaurin, University of Wuppertal; Prof. Dr. Tina In-Albon, Technical University of Kaiserslautern; Laura Kraus, Technical University of Kaiserslautern; Dr. Lena Spangenberg, University of Leipzig; Dr. Lasse Sander, University of Freiburg; Prof. Dr. Philip Santangelo, University of Luxembourg; Dr. Kevin Hilbert, Humboldt University Berlin; Sören Friedrich, Ruhr University Bochum; Prof. Dr. Tobias Teismann, Ruhr University Bochum; Prof. Dr. Inken Höller, Charlotte Fresenius University of Psychology.
Website: https://youthsuicidenetwork.com/
The DFG-funded network YSAN focuses on the survey and prevention of suicidality in adolescents. Among adolescents between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is one of the leading causes of death. Among countries with the highest Human Development Index, Germany ranks second in youth suicides, and 25.6% of 13- to 25-year-old inpatients in Germany reported at least one suicide attempt in their lifetime.
The goal of the network is to address methodological, conceptual, and practical issues in suicide research among children and adolescents. Another goal of the network is to develop, apply, and demonstrate methods for improving survey approaches. In doing so, the network focuses on developmentally sensitive, intensive longitudinal data collection (e.g., EMA), its clinical utility, and potential risks (e.g., iatrogenic effects) and ethical considerations that are paramount to conducting work in this area.
ChronAS – A longitudinal study on chronic pain and correlations with suicidality and respective risk factors
In cooperation with Dr. Beatrice Korwisi, University of Duisburg-Essen
The lifetime prevalence of persons suffering from chronic pain reporting suicidal thoughts varies between 20 and 23%, while 9 to 14% report at least one suicide attempt (Calati et al., 2015, 2016; Tang & Crane, 2006). In order to identify suicidal thoughts in persons living with chronic pain and to prevent suicidal behavior at an early stage, the interaction of various risk factors needs to be investigated. While the relevance of general risk factors for suicidality (e.g. gender, age) has already been acknowledged in persons living with chronic pain, to date, there are only a few studies focusing on the influence of pain-specific risk factors (e.g. pain catastrophizing), currently researched proximal risk factors, and possible protective factors (e.g. pain acceptance, social support) on suicidal ideation and behavior, and their interaction regarding this population.
This longitudinal study aims to gain new insights into the contribution of these factors to suicidal ideation and behavior in this population.
MOMENTUM – Mentalizing in the moment: an investigation of mentalization and influencing factors over time
Mentalization describes the ability to understand and interpret behaviour of self and others, drawing inferences about affective and cognitive mental states such as thoughts, desires, feelings, goals, or intentions. It is associated with various mental disorders, especially borderline personality disorder. Research suggests that mentalization plays an important role in the development of instable relationships, impulsivity and emotional dysregulation, which are key features of borderline personality disorder. Mentalization is described as a dynamic process that underlies temporal fluctuations. It is assumed that arousal, stress, and the context of the situation have an influence on mentalization capacity. However, research on mentalization has so far mainly focused on cross-sectional laboratory surveys neglecting the dynamic aspect of mentalization. Innovative data collection methods such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with smartphones are more and more used in clinical research to investigate short-term fluctuations of clinically relevant constructs and their influencing factors in everyday life.
Therefore, the aim of the planned study is to test a self-report instrument of mentalizing in EMA and to gain better insights into the temporal variations and relevant influencing factors.
AssiS – A study on the opinions and experiences of psychotherapists (in training) on assisted suicide
Cooperation project with Prof. Dr. Thomas Forkmann, University of Duisburg-Essen
After a draft for a new law on new regulations for assisted suicide was rejected by a large majority in the Bundestag in summer 2023, the topic is being discussed more intensively than ever before. Psychotherapists are affected by the topic of assisted suicide in two ways: On the one hand, as potential assessors for the authorization of assisted suicide, and on the other hand, because they treat patients with both physical and mental illnesses in which assisted suicide could play a role. However, studies on the opinions and experiences of psychotherapists (in training) on this topic are lacking. The aim of the study is therefore to examine the opinions and experiences of psychotherapists (in training) on this topic.
