What Are My Friends Really Like? How We Change Our Perceptions of Familiar Others’ Traits and Actions

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · 2025-03-22 · 1 citations

In everyday life, our perceptions of others' traits are influenced by a combination of their actions and our relationship with them. We enrolled 142 participants in a virtual escape room to examine (a) whether an unfamiliar task changed perceptions of friends' traits, (b) which types of prior relationships influenced trait perceptions, and (c) the relative importance of perceptions of actions in assessing traits. Higher pregame similarity ratings led to increases in perceptions of competence, while higher pregame liking ratings led to increases in perceptions of sociability. In addition, objective performance mattered for competence ratings, whereas subjective perceptions of performance mattered for sociability ratings. Our findings demonstrate the importance of real-world relationships not only for how we change our beliefs about others' traits but also for perceptions of the very actions we use as evidence for those beliefs.

Ambulatory Assessment in Mental Health Research: Expert Consensus on Current Practices and Future Directions

2025-02-03 · 3 citations

Ambulatory Assessment (AA) studies have proliferated in mental health science, promising unparalleled insights into the dynamic nature of mental health. The high methodological heterogeneity of AA studies calls for the harmonization of approaches and the establishment of research standards. This expert consensus provides an overview of best-practice recommendations to integrate AA in mental health research. We queried 26 experts in the field in a Delphi-adapted process, resulting in recommendations regarding eight topics, encompassing methodological considerations, technological advancements, and practical applications; interdisciplinary collaboration and personalized treatment approaches were recurrent themes. By establishing standardized guidelines and best practices, this expert consensus serves as a resource for mental health scholars seeking to leverage AA tools in research and practice. Ultimately, the integration of AA holds promise for revolutionizing mental health care, fostering precision medicine, and improving outcomes for individuals living with mental disorders.

Compendium of dyadic behavior change techniques v2.0: results from a Delphi study

Annals of Behavioral Medicine · 2025-01-01 · 4 citations

BACKGROUND: Dyadic interventions involving a close other (eg, romantic partner) have gained increased awareness and shown initial promise, but a shared language and systematic approach to describing their intervention content (ie, dyadic behavior change techniques [DBCTs]) is lacking. PURPOSE: This study aimed to further develop a comprehensive and expert-validated Compendium of DBCTs focused on health behavior change in romantic couples to support intervention development and facilitate intervention reporting. METHODS: A 2-round Delphi process with international experts (1: N = 20; 2: N = 19) was conducted. Experts rated the clarity and comprehensibility of DBCTs, as well as their expected link with the most proximal mechanisms of action. Additionally, 14 experts convened for an online discussion via video conferencing to address key issues and emerging questions. RESULTS: The resulting Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 includes 219 DBCTs that specify who (ie, execution) does what (ie, intervention task) for whom (ie, target). DBCTs are linked to 32 hypothesized most proximal mechanisms of action. An interactive Webtool (www.dbctcompendium.com) was created to facilitate access to and use of the Compendium. CONCLUSIONS: The Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 offers a classification of DBCTs validated through expert consensus. It supports systematic development and reporting of dyadic interventions aimed at health behavior change in couples by specifying hypothesized links with underlying mechanisms of action. Future research should focus on identifying the effectiveness of DBCTs under various conditions and the Compendium's applicability to other dyad types and behavioral domains.

Compendium of dyadic behavior change techniques v2.0: results from a Delphi study

Universität Zürich, ZORA · 2025-01-01

Background Dyadic interventions involving a close other (eg, romantic partner) have gained increased awareness and shown initial promise, but a shared language and systematic approach to describing their intervention content (ie, dyadic behavior change techniques [DBCTs]) is lacking. Purpose This study aimed to further develop a comprehensive and expert-validated Compendium of DBCTs focused on health behavior change in romantic couples to support intervention development and facilitate intervention reporting. Methods A 2-round Delphi process with international experts (1: N = 20; 2: N = 19) was conducted. Experts rated the clarity and comprehensibility of DBCTs, as well as their expected link with the most proximal mechanisms of action. Additionally, 14 experts convened for an online discussion via video conferencing to address key issues and emerging questions. Results The resulting Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 includes 219 DBCTs that specify who (ie, execution) does what (ie, intervention task) for whom (ie, target). DBCTs are linked to 32 hypothesized most proximal mechanisms of action. An interactive Webtool (www.dbctcompendium.com) was created to facilitate access to and use of the Compendium. Conclusions The Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 offers a classification of DBCTs validated through expert consensus. It supports systematic development and reporting of dyadic interventions aimed at health behavior change in couples by specifying hypothesized links with underlying mechanisms of action. Future research should focus on identifying the effectiveness of DBCTs under various conditions and the Compendium’s applicability to other dyad types and behavioral domains.

Evaluating the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Mobile Mental Health Intervention for Adolescent Depression and Anxiety

Clinical Pediatrics · 2025-09-07

The adolescent mental health crisis is compounded by a shortage of mental health services, which mobile health apps may alleviate. We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the Wysa app (a commercially available app containing cognitive behavioral therapy-based digital modules and an artificial intelligence-based conversational agent) among 13- to 18-year-old adolescents recruited from a primary care clinic in New York City and online from March to June 2022. We assessed adolescent engagement in the Wysa app over a 3-week period. Out of 44 participants, app uptake was 77.3% (34/44). Among those who used the app, participants used the app a median of 9 times (IQR: 5–19). Over 3-quarters ( n = 25) of participants who used the app would recommend the app to others, and 60.6% rated the app 4–5 stars (5 stars maximum rating). Pediatricians may find it a useful tool to recommend in their clinical practice to support adolescent mental health.

A Dyad-Based Intervention to Improve Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy among People with HIV who Inject Drugs in Kazakhstan: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

AIDS and Behavior · 2025-08-07

Compendium of Dyadic Behavior Change Techniques v2.0: Results from a Delphi Study

2025-06-25

Background: Dyadic interventions involving a close other (e.g., romantic partner) have gained increased awareness and shown initial promise, but a shared language and systematic approach to describing their intervention content (i.e., dyadic behavior change techniques) is lacking. Purpose: This study aimed to further develop a comprehensive and expert-validated Compendium of dyadic behavior change techniques (DBCTs) focused on health behavior change in romantic couples to support intervention development and facilitate intervention reporting.Methods: A two-round Delphi process with international experts was conducted. Experts rated the clarity and comprehensibility of dyadic behavior change techniques, as well as their expected link with the most proximal mechanisms of action. Additionally, experts convened for an online discussion via video conferencing to address key issues and emerging questions.Results: The resulting Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 includes 219 DBCTs that specify who (i.e., execution) does what (i.e., intervention task) for whom (i.e., target). DBCTs are linked to 32 hypothesized most proximal mechanisms of action. An interactive web tool (https://dbctcompendium.com/) was created to facilitate access to and use of the Compendium.Conclusions: The Compendium of DBCTs v2.0 offers a classification of dyadic behavior change techniques validated through expert consensus. It supports systematic development and reporting of dyadic interventions aimed at health behavior change in couples by specifying hypothesized links with underlying mechanisms of action. Future research should focus on identifying the effectiveness of DBCTs under various conditions and the Compendium’s applicability to other dyad types and behavioral domains.Keywords: Dyadic intervention, couples, Compendium, taxonomy, dyadic behavior change techniques, intervention development, intervention reporting, mechanisms of action

What are my friends really like? How we change our perceptions of familiar others’ traits and actions

2025-01-29

In everyday life, our perceptions of others’ traits are influenced by a combination of their actions and our relationship with them. We enrolled 142 participants in a virtual escape room to examine a) whether an unfamiliar task changed perceptions of friends’ traits, b) which types of prior relationships influenced trait perceptions, and c) the relative importance of perceptions of actions in assessing traits. Higher pre-game similarity ratings led to increases in perceptions of competence, while higher pre-game liking ratings led to increases in perceptions of sociability. In addition, objective performance mattered for competence ratings, whereas subjective perceptions of performance mattered for sociability ratings. Our findings demonstrate the importance of real-world relationships not only for how we change our beliefs about others’ traits, but also for perceptions of the very actions we use as evidence for those beliefs.

Intensive Longitudinal Methods: Toward a Psychological Science of Daily Life

Annual Review of Psychology · 2025-10-17 · 5 citations

Intensive longitudinal methods (ILMs) represent a class of longitudinal designs used to understand the flow of people's thoughts, feelings, physiology, and behaviors in their natural settings. This term encompasses daily diaries, experience sampling, ecological momentary assessment, ambulatory assessment, and related methods. Research on ILMs has grown exponentially, evolving into a core approach that complements more traditional designs. This article builds on this journal's first review on this topic, published in 2003. In the quarter-century since, there have been marked advances in design, technology, and statistical modeling. Three core ideas permeate this review: To build adequate theories of psychological functioning in natural settings, researchers must focus on ( a ) kinematics, ( b ) dynamics, and ( c ) heterogeneity. Kinematics answers the question, What happened? Dynamics answers the question, Why did it happen? Heterogeneity answers the question, How much do people vary in the whats and whys? ILMs can address these three goals of psychological science.

Communicating causal effect heterogeneity

2024-09-03 · 3 citations

Advances in experimental, data collection, and analysis methods have brought population variability in psychological phenomena to the fore. Yet, current practices for interpreting such heterogeneity do not appropriately treat the uncertainty inevitable in any statistical summary. Heterogeneity is best thought of as a distribution of features with a mean (average person’s effect) and variance (between-person differences). This expected heterogeneity distribution can be further summarized e.g. as a heterogeneity interval (Bolger et al., 2019). However, because empirical studies estimate the underlying mean and variance parameters with uncertainty, the expected distribution and interval will underestimate the actual range of plausible effects in the population. Using Bayesian hierarchical models, and with the aid of empirical datasets from social and cognitive psychology, we provide a walk-through of effective heterogeneity reporting and display tools that appropriately convey measures of uncertainty. We cover interval, proportion, and ratio measures of heterogeneity and their estimation and interpretation. These tools can be a spur to theory building, allowing researchers to widen their focus from population averages to population heterogeneity in psychological phenomena.