Department Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy

Projects

Efficacy of Emotion Regulation Training for Individuals with Congenital Heart Defects: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Funding: Association of German Pediatric Cardiac Centers, Duration: 2021-2024

In this nationwide study, conducted in collaboration with the Competence Network for Congenital Heart Defects, an online emotion regulation training program will be designed for individuals with congenital heart defects. This program will be evaluated within the framework of a three-arm randomized controlled trial. The study plans to compare a general and a disease-specific emotion regulation training program against a waiting list control group. The training programs will be delivered online using behavioral therapy methods and will include psychoeducational texts, video content, audio files, and practical daily exercises for effective emotion management. A total of 600 patients over the age of 18 with congenital heart defects will be randomly assigned to one of the three study conditions.

Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness of an Internet-Based Intervention for Eating Disorders

  • Funding: European Regional Development Fund awarded to Selfapy, duration: 2020-2024

This study evaluates the effectiveness of internet-based self-help programs for individuals with bulimia and binge-eating disorder. The programs are based on evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders. In a blinded, randomized controlled trial with a waitlist control group, the effects of the interventions on symptom progression, quality of life, and emotion regulation are examined. Participants are randomly assigned to either immediate access to the internet-based self-help programs (intervention group) or delayed access after a period of 12 weeks (waitlist control group). Primary and secondary outcome measures are collected before the intervention and after six and twelve weeks. Additionally, eating behavior and emotion regulation in daily life are assessed before and after the intervention using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA).

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Winter is Coming: Deciphering the Precursors of Depressive Symptoms Using its Naturally Occurring Fluctuations During the Seasons

  • Funding: FRONTIER - DFG Excellence Initiative, 5.2. ZUK 49/Ü 5.2.179, duration: 2017-2019

For the Frontier application (Miano, Schulze, Barnow), research funding of €84,182 has been approved for 2017. In this longitudinal study, emotion regulation, cognitive functions and depressive symptoms were assessed at 6 different points in time over the course of a year - from summer 2018 to winter 2019 to summer 2019. The participants (N > 110) filled in online questionnaires, among others on depressive symptoms and their emotional regulation ability. The emotions experienced and the emotion regulation strategies used were surveyed using the smartphone app EmoTrack in everyday life (Ecological Momentary Assessment). The participants also underwent online tasks on cognitive control (inhibition and working memory updating). The aim of this longitudinal study is to improve our understanding of the causal relationships between emotional regulation, cognitive functions and depressive symptoms, which have hardly been investigated to date. 

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Emotion Regulation After Completion of Outpatient Psychotherapy for Depressive Disorders

The aim of this study is to investigate how mental health and emotion regulation develop after completion of outpatient psychotherapy for the treatment of depression. The study includes nine measurement points at intervals of three months. Each measurement full stop includes the completion of online questionnaires and the one-week use of a smartphone app that asks the participants about their feelings and how they deal with them. During the first appointment and six months, one and two years after the first appointment, clinical interviews are conducted. Participants will receive an expense allowance of € 400 if they participate fully in all the interviews. 

If you have any questions about the study or are interested in participating, you are very welcome to contact the study team by phone (0178 3165305) or by email ( gefuehlsstudie@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de ). You are welcome to apply for participation in the study early on before your outpatient therapy is completed. 

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