Loes Keijsers

Loes Keijsers, PhD, Tilburg University, aims at contributing to better health and well-being of future generations, by empirically studying the daily lives of teens and by collaborating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinairy to translate scientific knowledge into e-health tools and serious games. As developmental psychologist, she is intrigued by the lives and relationships of teenagers, and how parents can optimally contribute to their child’s positive development, mental health and well-being, despite their decreasing authority.

She relies on advanced methodological approaches. For instance, to obtain a ‘photoalbum’ of mood swings in the daily lives of teens, the team of researchers use apps on their mobile phones (i.e., Experience Sampling Methods; experiencesampling.nl). To generate impact from these theoretical insights, Loes undertakes active efforts to implement research into practice (e.g., developing and implementing e-health applications to detect and prevent adolescent depression; TEDx speaker; Universiteit van Nederland). Also, she has written a book for the general public about the intriguing behaviors of teens: Waarom tieners zo irritant kunnen zijn. En hoe je daar als ouder mee kunt leren leven, 2013.

PRESENTATION

Measuring real-life emotions and behaviors with Experience Sampling Methods. An opportunity for personalized insights.

In this presentation, I will discuss some of the novel possibilities to track the daily lifes of individuals, using Experience Sampling Methods (www.experiencesampling.nl). Facilitated by smartphone apps, researchers have developed tools to measure real-time, how people are feeling, what they are thinking, or what they are doing. Combined with state-of-the-art statistics, novel insights can be obtained in each person’s unique functioning, for instance, under which circumstances or at what times of the day is this person feeling sad or happy?

Currently, we are implementing such novel methods in a serious game for cognitive behavioral therapy for youths, as it may provide us with unique insights into the daily moods of adolescents, which mood patterns predict the onset of depression, and which parts of the game are most effective in improving coping mechanisms with stress. I will also discuss the current pitfals of this method, and some of the most urgent scientific questions that need to be addressed in the near future.