YouthDMH

The main goal of this COST Action project (CA23153) is to enhance research on the use of technology to support young people’s mental health. It will emphasise diversity and inclusivity and will consider how technologies can support mental health.

As part of the Psychology and Technology research group, Nele De Witte is involved as a member of the project’s core group and as leader of Working Group 3. 

Working group 3 will focuses on the use of technology (e.g., mobile, wearable, self-report, social media analytics) to collect contextual information relevant to the assessment of mental health difficulties. Recent years have witnessed a significant progress in areas such as experience sampling, digital phenotyping and machine learning to support mental health assessment and service optimisation. Research has also focused on how these methods can support personalised mental health interventions. This includes just-in-time and situated interventions which provide support at the right moment and in the day-to-day lives of people.

The phrase contextual psychiatry is often used to capture a set of emerging technique that allow researchers to examine real-time and real-world person- environment interactions to better understand and support mental health. This work has significant potential. But, as of now, it is unclear how such research will impact on mental health service delivery. It is also unclear how young people will respond to such advances. Building on the expertise of network members, and through direct engagement with young people, working group 3 creates and transfers knowledge and sets a roadmap for future research on contextual and early assessment and intervention.