Developing and assessing a digital app that implements the situated assesment method to decrease distress and increase eustress

该项目将构建和评估一个健康应用程序，以帮助个人了解和调节生活压力。在之前的工作中，我们开发了一种测量个人压力的新工具，即情境评估法（SAM2）。与其他建立个人压力水平总体测量的工具不同，SAM2提供了有关压力机制的丰富信息。SAM2在评估消极压力（压力）和积极压力（压力）方面也很新颖，通常可以解释70-80%的压力和压力差异，同时建立相关压力机制的见解。有趣且重要的是，跨多个时间点执行SAM2评估程序会诱导对痛苦和快乐的学习。个人越来越了解他们所经历的痛苦和压力是如何与特定的压力机制相关的。在一系列的纵向研究中，我们将构建和评估一个实现SAM2程序的健康应用程序。特别感兴趣的是建立一个有效的数字工具，促进对痛苦和良性压力的学习，以减少痛苦和增加良性压力（将与压力相关的影响从消极转变为积极）。除了收集纵向追踪痛苦和压力的数据外，该应用程序还将持续评估用户的学习情况和应用参与度。这名博士生将成为格拉斯哥大学一个专注于健康认知和行为的大型实验室小组的一员。格拉斯哥的两位主管将提供健康认知、行为改变和研究方法方面的培训。行业合作伙伴将作为第三位主管，提供应用开发、实施和评估方面的培训。博士项目将为开发未来的合作项目发挥基础作用，这些项目旨在开发越来越强大的应用程序，以减少痛苦和增加压力。

This project will build and evaluate a health app to help individuals learn about and regulate life stress. In previous work, we developed a new instrument for measuring an individual's stress, the Situated Assessment Method (SAM2). Unlike other instruments that establish an overall measure of an individual's stress level, SAM2 provides rich information about associated stress mechanisms. SAM2 is also novel in assessing both negative stress (distress) and positive stress (eustress), and typically explains 70-80% of the variance in distress and eustress, while establishing insight into associated stress mechanisms. Interestingly and significantly, performing the SAM2 assessment procedure across multiple timepoints induces learning about distress and eustress. Individuals increasingly understand how the distress and eustress they experience is related to specific stress mechanisms. In a series of longitudinal studies, we will build and assess a health app that implements the SAM2 procedure. Of particular interest is building an effective digital tool that promotes learning about distress and eustress to decrease distress and increase eustress (shifting the affect associated with stress from negative to positive). Besides collecting data that tracks distress and eustress longitudinally, the app will continually assess user learning and app engagement. The PhD student will become part of a large lab group at the University of Glasgow that focuses on health cognition and behaviour. The two Glasgow supervisors will provide training in health cognition, behaviour change, and research methods. The industry partner will serve as an equal third supervisor, providing training in app development, implementation, and assessment. The PhD project will play a foundational role for developing future collaborative projects that aim to develop increasingly powerful apps for decreasing distress and increasing eustress.